


Iron Cages

by theloneliestgemini



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Tony Stark, Civil War Team Iron Man, Imprisonment, Not A Fix-It, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, POV Multiple, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Sokovia Accords, not team Cap friendly, not wanda maximoff friendly, seriously no one on team cap has a good time in this fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:07:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25565602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theloneliestgemini/pseuds/theloneliestgemini
Summary: Steve Rogers and his team have prevailed against the Accords and are back in business. Tony Stark has been declared a traitor and is imprisoned by SHIELD. The Avengers have been restored to their previous status and all the events of the Civil War have been forgotten… or have they? There’s an unrest stirring in the world and the people will not let their voices be ignored. Justice is coming for Team Cap and this time they can’t punch their way out of it.
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Avengers Team, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 246
Kudos: 1128
Collections: A Collection of Beloved Inserts, Salty Tony Stark, Tony Stark Defense Squad I, Waiting for updates, superhero tingz





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [When Tony Lost Civil War](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22632373) by [Jane271](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jane271/pseuds/Jane271). 



> So I've had this fic concept for a long time and finally got the time to write it all out. Before you even start to read this please note that if you're on Team Cap then you will hate this fic. 
> 
> I actually really liked CA:CW. It changed my view on a lot of characters and brought up the realistic consequences the Avengers would've had to face. The movie made me lose a lot of respect for everyone on Team Cap though... except for Bucky! I love Bucky(although he does not really show up in this fic)
> 
> Also there's a badass OC I created, although she is not super prominent. 
> 
> There will be no Thanos in this fic and no Infinity War. 
> 
> For the premise of the fic to work, some legal and realistic details had to be skimmed over. 
> 
> Please enjoy!

Two long months. That’s how long it had been since “the Civil War.” 

Two months since Steve had freed his team from the Raft and exposed General Ross as a crooked and corrupt criminal. The public’s outrage at Ross’s misdeeds and the way he had abused the Accords had caused a massive movement to abandon the Accords. The UN had become so pressured by the people that they had at last conceded. 

With the Sokovia Accords disbanded and Ross in jail, the world had hailed Steve’s team as “heroes fighting against injustice” and “true freedom fighters.” The Avengers were restored and once again able to go back to saving the world. The team returned to the Compound ready to restore justice, although Scott opted to go back to San Francisco. 

Steve knew he should feel happy. After all, they had won. Things were almost exactly the way they used to be- except that now they had two problems. 

One of them was Bucky. Steve had wanted nothing more than to take his best friend out of cryo-freeze as soon as they’d gotten back to the Compound. Unfortunately, Bucky had made it clear that he didn’t want to be woken up until there was a way for his triggers to be removed. 

Which brought him to the second problem- Tony Stark. When the team realized that they didn’t know where Tony was, Steve had directed them to Siberia. There SHIELD agents found an unconscious Tony Stark, half-frozen to death. Steve had felt a tiny pang of regret when he saw how bruised and battered Tony was, but he had no regrets about the fight. He wouldn’t have had to resort to such extreme measures if Tony just realized it wasn’t Bucky’s fault. While a medical team was working to nurse Tony back to health Nick Fury had pulled Steve and his team aside to talk to them.

“Now that Stark is back we have to discuss what to do with him.” Fury’s mouth was set in a grim line and his eyes were hard and cold. “Even though Stark is a pain in the ass he’s powerful, smart, and most importantly dangerous. We can’t let him go out there and start stirring up trouble for us.”

Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Wanda all nodded in agreement while Sam looked slightly skeptical. 

“What are you saying?” Sam said cautiously, eyeing Fury. 

“I’m saying that we have to make sure he can’t mess things up this time,” Fury said slowly. “Hill and I have been formulating… a plan.”

“What is it?” Steve asked.

“We keep Stark with us. He tends to let his mouth run and we can’t let him bring the Accords back. He’s far too influential,” Fury said. “The only way we can control him is by keeping him out of the public eye.”

“You want to imprison him.” Sam’s eyebrows were creased and arms crossed. “SHIELD doesn’t have the jurisdiction to do that. It's illegal.”

“It’s not illegal if no one knows about it,” Fury retorted. “Do you have a better idea?” Sam was silent.

“Well I think it’s a great idea,” Wanda sneered. “Lock Stark up like he locked us up. Treat him like the criminal he is.” Clint nodded at her words. 

“It’s a good plan on paper but are you forgetting who we’re talking about? The same Tony Stark who annihilated the Ten Rings and built Iron Man in a damn cave,” Sam said, voice rising. 

“It’s all taken care of,” Fury stated. “He’ll be under 24/7 supervision by agents and given nothing but a bed and bathroom. He won’t be able to do anything without us catching it. Is that enough for you?” Sam still looked unconvinced but gave a resigned sigh.

“Where will you keep him?” Steve asked.

“We have a cell ready for him at the Compound. We’ve already begun construction on a SHIELD wing in the building. Stark wouldn’t let us in before but he doesn’t exactly have a say in it now does he?” Steve thought he could see a hint of a smirk on the director’s face but it disappeared just as quickly as it came.

“A cell at the Compound? Isn’t it dangerous to have him so close to us?” Natasha asked.

“On the contrary, it’s the best place to keep him. Who better to stop him from escaping than the Avengers?” Fury’s logic checked out and Steve slowly nodded. After everything that had happened, there was really no way they could trust Tony anymore. This was the only solution. The conversation had ended there and they had all gone back to the Compound. 

And that was how it had been for the last two months. Tony was kept in the basement of the Compound, his cell constantly monitored by SHIELD and Steve’s team. In those two months, he hadn’t said a single word to anyone.

It was infuriating. Steve had gone down to his cell several times to try and talk to Tony, to rebuild their bridges and get him to cooperate. But he had stubbornly refused to even look at Steve. Fury said not to worry about it but Steve couldn’t stop thinking about the way Tony spitefully glared at anyone who came near him. He had to find a way to get through to him.

Despite all their differences, Tony was still his friend. He just wished Tony would listen to him. Whether they wanted to admit it or not, the team needed Tony. They’d been struggling with only the Falcon as their air support and the gear SHIELD provided was subpar at best. 

SHIELD was willing to give him some resources to build new armor and arrows for the team but Tony had simply shaken his head when the idea was proposed to him. 

These silent rejections did not help team morale. Tensions were high in the Compound with Steve’s team barely scraping through some of their missions. Sam had offered the idea of bringing Rhodes or Vision in to help but no one had seen the colonel ever since he had mysteriously escaped from the hospital where he was held at. Vision had also seemingly dropped off the face of the planet which Wanda was furious about. 

Fury had thrown a fit when none of his agents could find Rhodes. Having Rhodes out there was worrisome and everyone was on edge after that. Clint had pointed out that because Rhodes was paralyzed he couldn’t really do anything, but just having the threat of a vengeful War Machine was stressful. 

Not to mention the news was still full of speculations and theories of where Iron Man was. The Avengers had put out a message to the press revealing how Iron Man had worked with General Ross and let them be held in The Raft. As expected the public was outraged at this betrayal. Steve had been quick to tell them that they had the situation under control and were taking care of it.

This had reassured the public for a month, but eventually, people started asking questions. Where is Tony Stark? Is he a danger to the people? What are the Avengers doing to stop him? 

Steve had dodged these questions with a string of vague answers that Hill had told him to use, but they hadn’t satisfied the press. Speculations had been fueled by the press release Pepper Potts had put out a month ago. Stark Industries was no longer backing the Avengers Initiative, leaving SHIELD to scramble for more money to support their missions. Natasha and Hill had tried to visit Pepper but hadn’t been able to get past the security in the lobby of Stark Industries. 

Two long months of having to deal with all these roadblocks and hurdles. 

Two whole months without Bucky by his side. 

Two months of Tony’s ego ruining everything for them.

If he could just get Tony to talk to him it would all be fixed. He had to fix this. Because he didn’t know what he would do if things didn’t get better.

***

Two months. That was how long Tony had been stuck in this godforsaken cell. Nothing but four gray walls, one impenetrable steel door, and a tiny bathroom. Oh and the “hidden” cameras.

Two months of constantly being watched and god did it give him the creeps. He hated the idea of people just staring at him, studying his every move. 

Two months of having to put up with Fury’s angry demands, Hill’s exasperated looks, and Steve’s Roger’s pleas for him to listen. Tony knew they wanted him to make their gear, to be their obedient mechanic like before but he wasn’t going to do it. He was not going to allow himself to be bullied and guilted into working for people that hated him.

God, he missed his lab though. He missed creating and working with his bots. He missed FRIDAY’s voice, missed his Rhodey, he missed Pepper’s smile, he missed boxing with Happy. What he wouldn’t give to break out of this hell hole and punch Fury in his smug face. 

Honestly Tony knew that he could’ve gotten out of this cell much earlier. The only reason he hadn’t left was that his body was still in the healing process. His limbs were stiff and some days it was hard to walk around. Plus his chest was still sore from Siberia. Turns out that getting hit with Captain America’s vibranium shield was not fun. He met with a doctor every week where they always tried to get him to talk with them. But Tony refused to break. 

He’d started exercising in the bathroom, the only place where he knew there weren’t any cameras. If there’s one thing he knew about Fury, it’s that the man was no Peeping Tom. He started out slowly, doing basic stretches. He then started to force himself to do push-ups and planks and run in place. Little by little, Tony’s body has gradually loosened up. 

And after two months of this training regimen, Tony finally felt ready. Despite SHIELD’s best efforts Tony had managed to get in contact with some friends on the outside. Turns out even though SHIELD had gotten rid of HYDRA, they still had some traitorous agents on the inside. Together they had formulated a plan that Tony knew would work. 

In less than 24 hours this plan would be set into motion. 

In less than 24 hours he would finally feel the sun on his face again. 

In less than 24 hours he would finally have his revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please no negative comments or critiques! Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Maria Hill was… tired. Things were not looking good for the Avengers and she was so tired of having to clean up their messes. So far Roger’s team hadn’t had a failed mission but they’d been pretty damn close a couple times. Everyone was worn out and beaten down from both the battlefield and the press.

Despite all the warnings Hill had given them, it seemed like Roger’s team was just causing more destruction. Every mission brought more property damage and even more casualties. The press was eating them alive, questioning their every move. Fury had ordered her to handle it and get the reporters off their asses, but nothing she did seemed to work. 

Hill sighed and brushed her hair to the side. Her heels made satisfying clicks against the concrete floor as she walked into the lounge. Maximoff and Barton were watching an action movie together on the couch while Romanoff blended a smoothie for herself. Wilson was on his tablet, frowning at the screen. And in the corner Rogers was watching all of this with a tired bemused smile. His eyes immediately became alert when he saw Hill standing in the doorway. 

“How can we help you Maria?” Hill tried not to be irritated with the way Rogers said her name with such familiarity. _You don’t know me _, she wanted to say but bit her tongue.__

__

____

__“You guys have the high school interview today. It’s in 10 minutes so I just wanted to remind you all.”_ _

____

____

Barton paused the movie and glanced back at Hill. “What interview? I didn’t know we had anything today.”

Hill tried not to roll her eyes. “It’s been on the schedule for weeks now. You’re supposed to meet with a student from a high school. They’re going to write an article on the Avengers for the school newspaper.”

“Oh yeah that,” Barton said lazily, twirling an arrow between his fingers. “Can’t you cancel it? Why do we have to do it anyways?” 

“It’s good for the Avengers’ public image. If you haven’t noticed you guys aren’t very popular at the moment. This interview is good publicity and if I’m being frank, you guys need it.” Hill saw Rogers’ jaw clench at her words and Maximoff frown. But to Hill’s surprise it was Wilson who spoke up.

“She’s right guys,” he said. “The people aren’t our biggest fans right now. We have to make a change. If that means doing interviews with high schoolers I’m fine with it.” Wilson set his tablet on the coffee table and pointed at the screen. “See this? This is an article about all our recent missions comparing them to the ones before the Civil War. Too many people are dying on our watch. We’re losing more people then we’re saving.”

Hill leaned forward and caught a glimpse of the article. It was that damn Christine Everhart again. A week ago she’d also released an article theorizing where Tony Stark was that wasn’t too far from the truth. In fact the article was so accurate that Hill was now sure that SHIELD had a snitch in their midst. At this point it really didn’t matter. The Avengers and SHIELD were under more scrutiny than ever thanks to Everhart, and it wouldn’t be long until another nosy reporter figured things out. 

“Sometimes we can’t save everyone,” Hill tried not to scream as Rogers started going on his “casualties are sad but inevitable” spiel again. Did the man not have a conscience? Did he not realize that innocent people were dying on _his _watch? She noticed that Wilson seemed ready to argue with Rogers but before he could open his mouth, Hill got a notification on her phone.__

____

____

“Save it for later Rogers. The student is here, we need to go meet him in the conference room.” Gesturing for everyone to follow her she left the room as fast as she could. 

_Let’s hope they don’t mess this up _, she thought to herself. She really didn’t get paid enough to deal with these idiots.__

____

____

***

Natasha wasn’t quite sure where it had all gone wrong. She’d calculated that Steve would win the war and he had. She’d switched sides at the perfect moment and it had paid off. She was back with her team fighting the enemy and being the good guy.

Yet Hill was right. The people weren’t happy. They had too many questions that the Avengers couldn’t answer. In the span of two months they had gone from suspicious to fearful to downright furious. Sooner or later the gates would shatter and all hell would break loose. 

Natasha wasn’t blind like Steve. She saw the way people looked at her when she was out on the street. Narrowed eyes, wary stances, shaking hands. The Avengers were one step from falling down a mountain that was impossible to climb back up. They had to play their cards right and win the public’s trust back. 

Sighing, she followed Hill down the hallway to the lobby. She caught Steve’s eye and he gave her a reassuring smile. It was his signature “I’m Captain America and everything will be alright” smile. Once upon a time Natasha might’ve believed that lie. But now she knew that Steve Rogers was one of the most naive and ignorant people alive. This naivete gave Steve a dangerous arrogance that Natasha was sure would be the death of them all one day. 

As much as Natasha wanted to justify what she’d done at the airport by claiming it was the logical choice, she knew the truth. She’d gotten soft, driven by the promise of a family only Steve could provide. If only her Red Room handlers could see her now. The great Black Widow, brought to the brink of destruction by sentiment. 

There was nothing she could do about now. 

She’d made her bed and now she had to sleep in it. 

“Hey watch where you’re going!” One moment Clint was yelling and the next Natasha was sprawled on the floor. Papers fluttered to the floor around her and she stifled a groan of pain. 

“Oh god, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going, I didn’t mean to bump into you!” Natasha quickly got to her knees, embarrassed to have been felled so easily. She looked up and saw a young girl in a SHIELD uniform scrambling to pick up papers. The girl was flushed bright red and looked distressed. 

“It’s okay,” Natasha said kindly. She reached down to hand the girl a pen on the ground. “I should have seen you in my way. Here I’ll help you clean up.” She continued to gather papers until she looked up and saw the girl’s face.

“You- you’re the Black Widow! Oh my god I bumped into the Black Widow!” Her face was practically scarlet now and her hands were trembling. Natasha tried to suppress a smile at the obvious awe and adoration. It had been a long time since someone had looked at her like that.

“It’s fine, really. Here’s your papers.” Natasha handed her a stack and the girl nervously took it. “Let me help you up.” She grabbed the girl’s shaky hands and pulled her to her feet. For a second they made eye contact and Natasha balked when she looked into her eyes. 

The girl’s eyes were a strange shade of hazel, flecked with specks of orange and gold. They were captivating and seemed to stare right into Natasha’s soul. Instead of the admiration that had been there before, her eyes were bright with a feeling that Natasha couldn’t quite place her finger on. It wasn’t embarrassment or fear, it was almost like the girl was… angry… at her.

But before Natasha could look any closer the girl let go of her hands and immediately transformed back into the flustered and demure girl from before. 

“I'm so sorry miss, it won’t happen again!” She bowed her head repeatedly, backing away from Natasha. She stiffened when Hill placed a hand on her shoulder.

“That’s quite enough now Radu. Miss Romanoff has an appointment now, so run along,” Hill said dismissively. The girl gave a firm nod and hastily hurried off towards the elevators, looking back at them with wide eyes.

“You okay Nat?” Steve asked. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “Hey Hill… who was that girl?”

“She’s one of the newer SHIELD interns, been working here for about a month. Top of her class, extremely smart but a little clumsy. Would not recommend sending her out into the field. She’s always running into people and whatnot,” Hill replied. “Her name is Heather Radu. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Natasha said, trying to act nonchalant. 

“Well if that’s all, we have to get going. Can’t keep the student waiting for us any longer.” Natasha nodded and the group continued to follow Hill. The team kept chatting ahead of her acting as if nothing had happened. But she couldn’t quite push down the strange sense of unease she'd gotten from the look in Heather Radu’s eyes. 

Maria pushed the conference room door open and Natasha caught her first glimpse of their interviewer. He was a small boy, looked to be about 14-15 years old, and his face broke out into a wide grin when he saw them come in. He instantly shot to his feet and extended a hand to Steve who shook it.

“It’s very nice to meet you young man. I’m Steve Rogers, although you probably already know that,” he said playfully. The boy’s smile grew as he vigorously shook Steve’s hand back. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well sir. I’m Peter Parker from the Midtown School of Science and Technology. I’m so excited to be here today. Shall we start the interview?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Gasps* What's Peter Parker doing in this fic? 
> 
> Oh look, Natasha, Hill, and Sam are starting to get a hint... I actually really love Sam(crazy excited for him to finally get his show with Bucky) but I felt like in the movies he's just Steve's "yes man" and blindly follows him no matter what. When I was first watching the movie I was really glad when Natasha initially signed the Accords. It felt like good character development and something she would do(you know that whole "red in her ledger" thing)- so you can imagine my disappointment when she betrayed Tony. Natasha and Sam will not be completely redeemed in this story but I'm going to make sure they don't end up like the other Rogues.
> 
> Also Scott Lang isn't in this story at all because I love him and I don't want him to get tangled in the Rogues' mess again.
> 
> And yes, Heather Radu is an OC. She'll be showing up soon...
> 
> Next chapter will be a longer one and I'll post it on Saturday. 
> 
> Please no negative comments or critiques! Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as an fyi, Spider-Man: Homecoming has not happened yet in this fic. 
> 
> Ngl, this scene is one of the main reasons I decided to write this fic. 
> 
> Now enjoy Peter interviewing the Rogues!

Steve sat down across from Peter Parker. He seemed like a nice boy, though a little overenthusiastic. Steve’s hand was still sore from the handshake and was surprised that a young boy could have such a strong grip. 

The others took a seat next to Steve, taking a moment to settle in. Peter watched all of them with bright eyes. He took out a large notebook and tape recorder. 

“You don’t mind if I record this right?” He said to Maria Hill who had taken a seat to the side. She eyed him for a moment then nodded. “Great, let’s get started then!” He clicked the recorder and opened the notebook. “I was so excited when I got this assignment. I only recently joined the Midtown Newsletter staff and didn’t think they’d choose me to do the interview. Lucky me, I guess.”

Steve smiled at the boy’s delighted tone. “Well we’re very happy to get to talk with you today.” Peter nodded and began to read from the notebook.

“So the journalism team polled students from my school and asked them what questions they wanted to ask you guys. A lot of them wanted to know what it's like to be on the battlefield. Do you guys communicate with each other? Are you stressed or completely in the zone?” 

“Well most of us are seasoned fighters and are used to being on the front line so it’s not super stressful, at least not for me. But there’s always a little nervousness going into the battle,” Steve said. His teammates nodded in agreement.

“And we are always communicating with each other during the fight on our coms. It’s important to always be in understanding with your teammates. If you’re not on the same page then you’re not a team.” Clint said, smiling knowingly at Wanda and Nat. 

Peter nodded and wrote something down. “Here’s another popular question students had- what is going on with the Winter Soldier? Where is he? Will he be standing trial for the events of Bucharest and Leipzig?”

Steve clenched his fists. He knew Peter was just doing his job but did he really have to bring Bucky into this? “Buck- the Winter Soldier is innocent. As everyone knows he was brainwashed by HYDRA to do all those horrible things, he shouldn’t be punished for being tortured!” 

“Mr. Rogers, no one is denying that Mr. Barnes has been through unspeakable things. He certainly can’t be held accountable for what he did when he was brainwashed. However he was out of HYDRA’s control in Bucharest and at the airport in Leipzig. Members of the German task force sent to bring him in were paralyzed and killed by Mr. Barnes. And he helped cause the destruction of million dollar airport supplies. Should he not be tried for those crimes?”

“I thought everything that happened in the Civil War was pardoned?” Clint asked. 

Peter gave him a thin smile. “Hmmm, I guess you’re right. However-”

“If we could please move on to another question Mr. Parker,” Maria said, interrupting Peter. Instead of getting angry his smile only grew. 

“Of course,” Peter said, pencil flying across his paper. “Have any of you guys read Christine Everhart’s latest article on the Avengers?” Steve noticed Maria’s eyes narrow at Peter’s words but she didn’t say anything so he took it as a sign that it was okay to respond.

“Yes, we have seen Miss Everhart’s article,” he said.

“Many students wanted to know what you thought of it,” Peter said. “Do you agree with what she’s saying about you guys?”

“Absolutely not,” Steve said firmly. “Her statistics are faulty and she really doesn’t understand the situation-” He frowned when Sam held up his hand to stop him.

“I’ve got this Steve. Look, while some aspects of the article may be exaggerated, there’s no denying that there’s some truth to it. We’re working very hard to improve our battle strategies and figure out new ways to minimize casualties. We realize that things need to change and we’re very open to any ideas of how that change can happen.” Sam’s words were slow and cautious and he was looking at Maria as he spoke. She gave him a small nod and he leaned back in his chair looking relieved. Steve wanted to argue that everything in Everhart’s article was false, but didn’t want Peter to see his heroes fight in front of him. 

Peter nodded and made a note in his book. “Speaking of change, do you think not having Iron Man on your team is why your approval ratings have drastically gone down in the last two months? Is his absence causing the Avengers to be less efficient?”

You could have heard a pin drop in the room the second Peter asked that question. Maria stiffened and her face went stone hard. Wanda looked offended at the question and Clint was glaring down at the table. Sam opened his mouth as if to say something but nothing came out. And Natasha? She looked like she had been expecting this question.

“Iron Man’s presence, while missed-” Steve tried to say, shooting a look at Clint who snorted, “-is not relevant to our approval ratings. Also our ratings aren’t that low-”

“Oh, but they are Mr. Rogers,” Peter said. “Here’s a quote from The New York Times; ‘As of last month less than 29% of all Americans approve of how the Avengers are handling their missions. Over 83% of Americans are unhappy with the destruction the Avengers cause on missions.’ So yes, your approval ratings are very low. Let me repeat my question- does Iron Man’s mysterious disappearance have anything to do with your subsequent failures?”

Steve gaped at the young boy. He hadn’t noticed it before, but ever since the interview started Peter’s eyes had grown hard and cold. His smile was no longer bright and enthusiastic but sharp and bitter. He was staring at Steve expectantly and his fingers tapped methodically against the wooden table.

“Son, I-”

“Please don’t call me son Mr. Rogers. Can you answer the question?” Peter said. 

“Peter, look, a lot of things are happening with the Avengers that you don’t understand, those statistics are…” Steve trailed off, looking at Maria for guidance. 

“Those statistics are what Mr. Rogers? They’re not fake and they’re certainly not false.” Steve didn’t know what to say to that. Peter turned to look at Sam. “Look you can say that you’re going to change, you can say that you’re trying to get better, but if you never actually do it, then what’s the point? The people want to see results, they want to see things improve.”

Steve wanted to argue that he wanted things to get better too, but was cut off by Maria Hill.

“Mr. Parker let’s move on to another question, okay?” Her voice was steady but Steve could tell she was worried. Peter paused and stared at all of them quietly for a moment. 

“Okay then,” Peter said tersely. "Let's talk about the Accords. 117 countries had approved of the Accords. What makes you think that you're above the law of 117 countries?" 

"You see, the Accords would've made us puppets of the government. It would've let all those countries control us and make us attack whoever they want," Steve said. 

Peter set down his pencil with a clatter and looked at them all with disbelief. "You do realize the UN isn't a government, right? It's made up of representatives of each country, not politicians. They focus on making good relations with other countries. You can search it up on Google, the UN is dedicated to maintaining peace, just like the Avengers." 

"Well those representatives are probably controlled by their governments. We should be free to decide who we fight. The Avengers need to be free and independent," Steve said confidently. 

"See, you talk about freedom and independence, but what about the people's freedom? Don't they have a right to decide who gets to protect them? If they don't want you in their country are you going to force your help on them?" 

"We're not forcing our help on them, we're just doing what's best for everyone." Steve didn't understand why Peter didn't get it. 

"And who decides what's best for everyone? You? Is what you think always the best for everyone?" 

Steve knew that he shouldn't answer that question but he couldn't help it. "Well yes-" 

"So you think that whatever you think is best, you're above the law, and that you can force your help on people even if they don't want it. Do you know what that makes you sound like Mr. Rogers? A super villain." Steve reeled back like he'd been slapped. 

"I-" 

"Next question please Mr. Parker," Maria interrupted, and this time she sounded agitated. 

"Huh. Fine." Peter locked his eyes with Steve for one more second. He then pulled a piece of paper out of his notebook and placed it on the table. Everyone leaned forward to see what was on it. It was a picture of a young woman and a very young girl, both smiling at the camera. “This is Andrea Stan and her daughter Sofia Stan. Andrea was a single mother and worked long shifts at her local hospital. Whenever she could, she liked to take time off and spend the day with Sofia at the park.”

Steve was starting to feel a sense of unease as he stared down at Andrea and Sofia Stan. Clint impatiently spoke up, tapping his foot on the floor. “Yes this is all great but what does this have to do with us kid?”

Peter’s eyes narrowed. “Well about two months ago Andrea finally had a day off and decided to take Sofia on a picnic. They were driving to the park when their car was crushed by a collapsing tunnel. They both died immediately.”

Steve had a sickening feeling in his stomach. “I-I’m very sorry about what happened to them, but I don’t see-”

“Andrea and Sofia Stan lived in Bucharest. The collapsing tunnel that killed them was caused by a chase between two super soldiers and the Black Panther.” Peter’s eyes were fierce, full of a fire that wasn’t there before. Steve couldn’t move. He didn’t know what to say.

He vaguely remembered collapsing a tunnel in Bucharest… he was so focused on saving Bucky he hadn’t noticed at the time… Steve didn’t think anyone had died- they weren’t trying to cause harm, he was just trying to save an innocent man. He hadn’t meant for anyone to die- he was sure that Peter could understand this. He snapped out of his trance and tried not to look down at the picture of Sofia Stan. “Peter, son-”

“Don’t call me son Mr. Rogers, final warning,” Peter hissed. 

“Look what happened in Bucharest was a horrible tragedy, but sometimes we can’t save everyone. I was only trying to save my best friend Bucky, the Black Panther wouldn’t stop chasing us, I never meant for anyone to get hurt. I’m sorry people died but casualties are always going to occur. We can’t be discouraged by them. We need to move on and keep fighting to honor them.”

“Are you serious? Are you actually serious?” Peter’s voice was rapidly getting louder and louder and Maria was starting to get out of her chair with a worried look on her face. “You cannot seriously be telling me that it’s okay that people died on your watch! ‘Keep fighting to honor them?’ No, you’re supposed to go to jail for murdering people! You need to be held accountable for your mistakes! 13 other people died in the tunnel that day! You cannot be saying that their deaths were just a sad accident, because if you are, then you aren’t the Captain America I thought you were.” 

Steve was speechless. He wanted to argue with the boy. Peter didn’t have all the facts, he was just a kid, he was confused. Yet Steve’s tongue felt heavier than vibranium. The room was dead silent. 

"They... they were trying to kill Bucky," Steve whispered. 

"So?" Peter asked incredulously. "Is Bucky's life worth more than the 13 other people you killed that day? Do they matter less? As long as Bucky's alive than nothing else matters right?" 

Steve felt everyone's eyes on him, Sam and Natasha's widening with a horror Steve had never seen before. He wanted to say no, that that wasn't the truth. But somewhere deep down inside him. Steve knew that the answer was yes. Bucky was all he had left, no one understood, the other people were different! 

“Mr. Parker, I believe this interview is over,” Maria said, cautiously approaching the boy as if he were a wild animal. 

“No it is not. I’m scheduled for about 10 more minutes. I’m not going anywhere Miss Hill.” Peter remained planted in his chair, gripping his pencil tightly. “And if you even lay a finger on me I guarantee that you will hear from my Aunt May. Trust me, you do not want Aunt May mad at you.”

“I-” Maria stuttered. Steve had never seen her flustered before, but the SHIELD agent was clearly rattled by Peter’s behavior. 

“Besides I only have one more question. Then I’ll be out of your hair,” Peter said. He tapped his pencil on the table rapidly, all while maintaining perfect eye contact with Maria.

“Fine one more question,” she said, sitting back down, red in the face. 

“This is the number one thing students wanted to ask the Avengers. Really, it’s the question every single person on this planet has. Where is Tony Stark?” 

There was a second of silence where no one seemed to know what to say. Then everyone in the room began speaking at the same time except Peter, who watched them all with amusement.

“We really don’t know,” was Sam’s automatic response, and he looked utterly resigned as he said it.

“Why is everyone so obsessed with Stark?” Wanda griped, eyes red with fury.

“Why does it even matter at this point? Stark is useless and stubborn; it's not like he could ever help us!” Clint sputtered indignantly.

“Tony Stark’s location is not of your concern,” Natasha said firmly.

“That- That is classified information young man,” Steve said.

“Alright, this interview is officially over,” Maria said, lunging for Peter’s tape recorder. Peter quickly snatched it up and moved out of Maria’s reach. 

“Aha! If it’s classified information that means you DO know where he is!” Peter said almost gleefully, pointing at Steve. Natasha let out a sigh of exasperation.

Steve inwardly groaned at his mistake. “I- That’s not what I meant- Son-” 

“Don’t call me son!” Peter said in a sing-songy voice. 

“Mr. Parker I’m going to have to ask you to leave the premises right now!” Maria suddenly snapped. It seemed she had finally lost her patience. Peter stared at them all for a second then let out a laugh. 

“Alright, alright, calm down lady. Let me check the time first,” he said, looking down at his watch closely. It was one of those new Stark Watches that had been released right before the Civil War. “Huh. Well a couple minutes short, but I guess it’ll work. Thanks for all the quality interview content. I’ll be sure to write an… interesting article.” Steve watched, frozen in shock of everything that just happened, as Peter strode right past Maria and opened the door. “It was a pleasure to meet you all again!” 

With that he walked out the door. Everyone in the room looked at each other, as if wondering if it had all been a very bad dream. 

“You still think that interview is going to get us good publicity?” Clint finally said, staring daggers at Maria, who was still bright red. 

“Oh shut up Barton,” she barked and stormed out of the room. 

“Jesus, that was a trainwreck,” Sam muttered, holding his head in his hands. He then turned to look at Steve "Do you really believe that Steve? Do you believe that you're above the law? Do you believe that it's okay to force your help on people without their consent?" 

"Well, I mean... yes?" Steve said, although it sounded more like a question to him. Sam's face grew pale with shock. 

"Oh shut up Wilson," Clint said indignantly. "You were there fighting the Accords with all of us. You agreed with Steve before." 

"Yeah well I'm beginning to think I made a mistake," Sam muttered. Steve stiffened. He couldn't possibly mean that. He'd have to talk to Sam about this later, clear the air. This interview had obviously impacted everyone negatively and Steve had to fix it as soon as possible. 

“That Peter Parker boy… he hates us,” Wanda whispered quietly. “I could feel it with my powers. He was so angry.”

Natasha let out a humorless laugh. “None of us needed powers to sense that.”

“I don’t understand,” Steve said. “He seemed like such a nice kid.”

Sam scoffed in disbelief. “Did you hear a word he said? I bet Peter Parker usually is a nice kid. But when he comes face to face with the heroes who helped kill innocent people without any punishment, he’s probably not going to be very nice.”

“Steve didn’t kill them!” Clint protested. “And that kid was way out of line. He shouldn’t have been allowed to talk to us like that. Everything he said was complete and utter bullshit.” 

“Not all of it,” Natasha said, which silenced Clint. “His statistics were all true. And I think I remember seeing the name Sofia Stan on the news last week.” They all fell silent when they thought about the Romanian nurse and her daughter. Peter had left the photo of them on the table and it stood there like a silent accusation.

The whole scenario reminded him of that Charlie Spencer boy Tony had confronted them about. God, that seemed like years ago. They’d been arguing about the Accords, Tony had babbled about coffee grounds in the sink, and then he’d pulled up the picture of Charlie Spencer. Steve felt a strange pang in his chest as he remembered all this. Sofia Stan had been even younger than the Spencer kid… 

“ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL, THIS IS A CODE GOLD, I REPEAT, A CODE GOLD. THIS IS NOT A DRILL!” They all jumped as the loudspeaker in the room blared. 

“Shit!” Clint said, getting up. “Are you serious?”

Steve wanted to reprimand Clint for his language but in that moment he agreed with him wholeheartedly. If this was a real Code Gold then that meant that… 

“Stark escaped!” An agent yelled through the door, panting as though he’d just ran 20 miles. “He got out of his cell, I don’t know how, he’s in the hangar now!”

Steve bit back a curse. The hangar was all the way on the other side of the Compound. It would take them over five minutes to get there now. 

“Come on Steve, let’s go!” Sam yelled and him and Steve nodded. They all ran through the door but Steve spared one glance back at the empty conference room. 

The picture of Andrea and Sofia Stan sat on the table, their eyes looking pale and empty under the dim lights. Just for a moment Steve imagined that they were looking right at him, right into his soul, begging him to help them-

“Steve come on!” Wanda shouted, pulling him out the door. Together they all began to run down the endless hallway, their feet pounding on the concrete floor.

After what seemed like ages, they burst through the hangar doors but were bewildered by what they found. The bay doors had a gaping hole in them, like a cannonball shot through them. All the SHIELD aircraft were piles of smoking metal and there were motionless agents everywhere. Natasha rushed towards an agent on the ground. She felt his pulse and looked back up at them in surprise.

“He’s alive,” she said with a mix of bewilderment and amazement. “As far as I can see he has no injuries, he’s just unconscious.” They heard a groan from the other end of the hangar and rushed towards it. 

Sam knelt down besides a stirring agent, helping her sit up. “Are you okay?” He asked. 

“Yeah, I think so. I just have a killer headache,” she said, clutching a hand to her forehead. 

“Can you tell us what happened here? Where’s Tony?” Steve asked. 

“I can hardly remember anything. Only thing I know is that he had the Iron Man armor on and he used it to release some sort of gas. I bet that’s what knocked us all out. Last thing I remember is that he shot out of here like a bullet,” she said, pointing at the hole in the bay doors. 

They all startled at the sound of the doors bursting open. Nick Fury and Maria Hill barged in, guns raised, with a whole squad of agents behind them.

“Where is he? Where is that son of a bitch?” Fury yelled.

“He’s gone,” Sam said glumly, gesturing to the mess around them.

Fury lowered his gun and shook his head in disbelief and said what they were all thinking. “Well shit.”

***

Peter felt like cackling like a madman. That had been both the most infuriating and entertaining experience of his life. Watching Rogers try to defend his dangerous actions and justify Bucharest? Infuriating. Seeing all their faces when he asked them where Mr. Stark was? Extremely entertaining.

He walked out of the Compound, giving the guards at the door a cheerful nod. Well, Rogers and his crew would get what they had coming. He couldn’t wait to get home and start writing his article. Sure, he was only pretending to be a part of the Midtown Newsletter’s staff, but he knew they’d appreciate an exposé about the glorified Avengers. 

“Oh shoot that reminds me; FRIDAY can you order some Thai food and get it delivered to my apartment? I promised I’d have dinner with MJ in exchange for getting to take her place doing the interview,” Peter said, speaking into his Stark Watch.

“Sure thing Peter. I just uploaded the recording of the interview to your computer as well,” replied FRIDAY.

“Sweet! Thanks FRI!” Peter was so glad he had FRIDAY to help him on this mission. He could only access KAREN when he was in his suit so he’d been delighted(and had nearly collapsed in surprise) when Happy sent him the latest Stark Watch two months ago. As soon as he put it on he’d discovered that Mr. Stark had actually uploaded FRIDAY onto the watch as a backup. It was supposed to be for Pepper Potts but Happy had insisted that it was more important for Peter to have it.

FRIDAY hadn’t really communicated with him until a month ago. She’d told him that SHIELD was illegally imprisoning Mr. Stark in the Compound. Peter had been outraged but FRIDAY explained that she had a plan to get him out. Apparently SHIELD had a snitch who was going to help him escape. However there was just one element that the plan needed- a distraction for the Avengers.

Peter had originally wanted to do something else, anything more useful, but FRIDAY had adamantly insisted that Mr. Stark did not want Peter to be in harm’s way again. So Peter decided that as long as he could help, he would be the best distraction ever. He hoped that the escape plan had worked. FRIDAY’s source on the inside better be legitimate. 

His watch buzzed twice and Peter pulled out of the street into an empty alley. “What’s up FRIDAY?” 

“I believe you have a message Peter,” she said. There was a beep and then Peter heard a voice that he hadn’t heard in a long time- two months to be precise.

“Hey Spider-Kid. How was the interview from hell?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it! Tony's escaped at last, the Rogues are pretty much screwed, and Peter Parker and FRIDAY have successfully executed a prison breakout. 
> 
> In case you need clarification, the interview was originally scheduled to be MJ interviewing the Avengers but Peter asked to take her place. It's not canon that MJ is part of the newspaper club but I don't know about you, I could totally see her as a journalist.
> 
> Peter really went on an emotional rollercoaster with the Rogues there- one second he's disgusted, the next he's in literal shock, and then he's laughing at the absurdity of Rogers' arrogance. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, please no negative comments or critiques!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the comments and kudos! It encourages me to write faster, although I'm still trying to figure out a consistent posting schedule. 
> 
> Shorter chapter but I hope you enjoy it!

Fury paced across the hangar, angrily muttering to himself. All around him unconscious SHIELD agents were waking up and being attended to by the medical staff. Incompetent, all of them. How in the world could they have let Stark slip away?

“Fury.” He turned and saw Steve Rogers and his team looking aimless. “What can we do to help?”

“You want to know how you can help? How about you tell me why your team was so goddamn slow in getting to the hangar?” Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hill flinch. Huh… 

“You see, we were in the conference room doing an interview-”

“The conference room? All the way on the other side of the building? Christ’s sake…” Fury looked at Hill. “I wasn’t aware we had an interview today. Who was it with?”

“A high school student for publicity, it was supposed to be good for our public image…” Hill trailed off. “It’s been on the schedule for a month now.”

“The interview was really weird too,” Barton said. “The kid didn’t seem to like us that much. Got all heated and angry about nothing.”

Fury shook his head and closed his eyes. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that ALL of the Avengers were displaced on the other side of the Compound at the exact time of Stark’s escape. Unless… 

“Shit,” Fury groaned. “It was a distraction. It was all a distraction.” The whole team’s eyes widened with realization. 

“You mean that Parker kid… he was in on it?” Rogers slowly asked, confused. He still didn’t seem to believe that Stark had escaped.

“Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t, maybe he was just being used! But it doesn’t matter because that tells us two important things,” Fury said. 

“What?” Maximoff asked. 

“Number one- we have a rat. Someone in SHIELD was helping Stark, that’s for sure. Number two- we can assume that Stark has had a plan to escape for at least a month now. Which means he wasn’t as mute and helpless as we thought he was.” Fury shook his head as he thought about how they’d underestimated a literal genius. 

“He can’t possibly be strong enough to pilot the suit though,” Hill said. “We’ve been giving him the pills regularly.”

“What pills?” Wilson asked sharply.

“We had the SHIELD doctor give Stark these pills that would… alleviate his pain… but also make him physically weaker,” she said hesitantly. “He thought they were painkillers.”

“Are you kidding me?” Wilson exclaimed incredulously. “That’s- that’s so messed up! Do you not see how messed up that is? Not to mention illegal, but then again, what about this isn’t illegal?” 

“Calm down Wilson, it doesn’t even matter now. Stark probably figured us out and didn’t take them. I can’t believe that he saw through us so easily,” Fury griped. “Look, we can’t stand around here chit-chatting like fools. It’s only a matter of time until Stark reveals what we did to him. We have to find him. Rogers, Barton, Romanoff, come with me to the Tech Center. Wilson and Maximoff, go with Hill to Stark’s cell and see what you can find. Let’s go, people!”

They all nodded and began to move out of the hangar. Fury spared one last glance at the hole in the bay doors. 

_Note to self- never ever underestimate Tony Stark. ___

____

____

*** 

Sam was so stupid. He was the most shortsighted fool on the planet. Why had he thought that imprisoning Stark was a good idea? He should’ve fought back more on the idea, he knew it was ill-advised at best and downright ludicrous at worst. But he had fallen for Steve’s dream that the mighty Avengers were invincible and that no matter what happened they would always win.

Now look where they were. Sam wouldn’t be surprised if Stark had planted a secret bomb in the Compound and blew them all up right now. Then he thought back to the agents in the hangar. If he really was in the Iron Man armor he could’ve killed every single one of them. But he hadn’t. Everyone else might’ve been confused on why they were left unharmed but Sam knew why.

It was because Tony Stark was a good guy. He wasn’t a violent, senseless, killing machine. At the end of the day Iron Man did what was best for everyone. He saved people, not killed them. 

Unlike some heroes, Sam thought to himself. That disastrous interview with Peter Parker had made Sam realize that Steve was no longer the Captain America he used to know. Believing they were above the law- what had they been thinking? And was what Peter said true, how Bucky mattered more than innocent people to Steve? He was struggling to wrap his head around everything that had just happened. Peter had also reminded Sam about all the casualties that had been occurring on their watch lately. Bucharest… He was sure that Sofia Stan’s eyes would haunt him when he went to bed tonight.

There was a small part of Sam, probably the part of him that still worshipped Steve, that told himself that this would all blow over. The people loved them, they loved the Avengers. They would never listen to Tony Stark. 

Then there was another part of Sam, the much louder part that had been growing larger and larger over the past two months. That part screamed to get out, get out as fast as you can before it all comes crumbling down. It told him that there was no way he could get out of this mess unscathed. It wasn’t like the Civil War. There was no General Ross to hide behind. This time **they **were General Ross-****

********

********

“Oh quit worrying,” came a voice from behind Sam. “We’ll find him in no time. Stark cannot hide from us.” Wanda walked up to him and nudged him lightly. “Try to quiet your thoughts too. They’re so loud right now! You’re practically exuding stress, it’s giving me a horrible headache.” 

She smiled widely at him. Sam didn’t understand how she could be so happy. “Aren’t you worried? It’s going to be impossible to find Stark.”

Wanda snorted and rolled her eyes. “It can’t be that hard. He doesn’t have anyone to help him anymore. And really, even if he tells everyone what we did, who’s going to believe him? He’s a traitor and monster. He can’t be trusted.” Her sneer made Sam uneasy.

When he’d first met Wanda he’d been immediately pulled towards the broken young girl. Here was someone who had experienced so much trauma, so much sadness, in her life. She’d rejected his offer of therapy but thanked him for the gesture. As they helped Steve look for Bucky, they’d become fast friends and often spent long nights talking about life. He knew how much she missed her brother Pietro and how she had a crush on Vision. Sam kind of saw her like a little sister, someone he could give advice and guidance to.

But lately Wanda wasn’t the same gentle funny girl she was before. She seemed restless and distracted. Ever since the Raft she had grown colder and more distant. Sam had found her joy at imprisoning Stark concerning. He often caught her looking at the monitor of Stark’s cell, staring down at him with a glee that almost scared Sam. Perhaps the events of Civil War had brought back her irrational hate for Stark. Or maybe that hate had never gone away...

“Yeah, well he’s kind of a genius Wanda, I’m pretty sure he’ll be hard to find. Plus he does have friends on the outside. Pepper, the spy in SHIELD, Rhodes. He’s completely unpredictable.” Wanda narrowed her eyes at Sam’s words but said nothing. They continued walking in silence behind Hill, who looked just as stressed as Sam.

They went down a seemingly endless flight of stairs until they reached what looked like a crime scene. Agents scurried around like ants, carrying clipboards and wearing gloves. Sam gaped at the destruction in front of them. The metal door, which Hill had told them was impenetrable, was lying on the floor, completely unhinged from the wall. Pieces of concrete wall and debris surrounded it. 

“Coming through, coming through,” Hill said, stepping over a particularly large chunk of rock. She led them into the cell which was much cleaner than the outside. There was nothing in it but a small bed and table, both of which had been nailed to the ground. To his right Sam could see the sparse bathroom, which had a metal toilet, tiny sink, and shower. As far as prisons went, this one was pretty secure- as well as illegal... “Nothing seems to be out of place. And we didn’t give him anything that he could use to make a bomb. Which means…”

“He called the suit to him from inside the cell,” Sam concluded.

“Well that’s one way of looking at it. We could also assume that the agent that was helping him could’ve brought him the suit. I just don’t understand how all this happened without us noticing,” Hill sighed. 

“Excuse me, we found these in his bed. They were hidden underneath his pillow.” An agent handed Hill a plastic bag full of small white pills. She examined the bag for a moment and then gave it back to him. 

“Those are the pills we gave him. Damn, it looks like he never took any of them,” she said. “You guys haven’t found anything else?”

The agent shook his head. “There’s nothing here. All fingerprints belong to Stark, there’s no evidence anyone else was here. If you want you can check the cameras, although so far we haven’t seen anything.” 

“Wait, that’s right, the cameras! Wasn’t someone watching the monitor? Wouldn’t they have seen anything happening?” Sam asked.

“Nope, everyone working in the Tech Center was knocked out by a gas that they think came through the vents, and all the tapes from the past hour have been wiped.” Sam cursed. Probably the work of the spy… 

“Sheesh, he really thought of everything didn’t he?” Hill wondered, looking half exasperated and half impressed. “Maximoff, can you sense anything?”

Wanda closed her eyes in concentration and tendrils of red crept out of her hands. They roamed through the cell, covering every inch in bright crimson. “All I feel is Stark. No one else was in this cell.”

“Okay thanks,” Hill said, making a note on her clipboard. “You two head back up to the Tech Center while I stay here. Tell Fury everything that we found.”

Sam and Wanda nodded and headed back up. Sam spared one more glance at the destruction behind them, feeling his muscles tense up instinctively. As they trudged up the stairs Wanda broke the silence. “I’ve been wondering… when we eventually find Stark, do you think we’ll jail him again or will SHIELD let us kill him?”

Sam was horrified by the question. “Wanda, we can’t kill Stark!”

“Why not? He’s already proven that he’s dangerous and can’t be trusted. Killing him is the only way to stop him. Plus, he deserves it.” The nonchalant tone Wanda had while talking about literally murdering Stark gave Sam goosebumps.

“We can’t kill him. It's illegal, it’s immoral, and it’s just wrong! He’s still a human being Wanda!”

“No he’s not. He’s a monster who killed my whole family, don’t you understand that? He has to die!” Fuming, Wanda ran up the stairs, leaving Sam alone with his thoughts. 

How could Wanda even think about killing someone? This was the same girl who loved sitting in the garden with Steve and teaching Vision how to cook. This was the same girl who cried on Sam’s shoulder about her brother’s death. How could she be so full of hate?

He realized he was shivering even though the stairwell wasn’t cold. He felt so uneasy, on edge, and anxious. 

Sam was scared. Scared of what Wanda was going to do to Stark, scared of what Stark was going to do to them, and most importantly scared of what he had done to himself.

_What have I done? ___

____

____

***

Pepper Potts had just put down the phone when it started to ring again. She groaned in frustration. Could people stop calling her for one second? Could she just have one moment to rest? Normally Pepper prided herself on her professionalism and her ability to stay calm and patient. But she hadn’t gotten more than an hour of sleep in the past two days and all she wanted to do was rest. 

Stark Industries had suffered a heavy blow after the Civil War and Pepper had spent the past two months struggling to raise their stocks and making sure her employees were getting their pay. She’d been determined not to lay off anyone but at this rate all departments were going to have cuts. 

On top of all this no one knew where Tony was. He had been working on multiple projects with R&D but when he disappeared their engineers had to improvise on what was left. Although the latest Stark Watch was still doing fairly well, Pepper needed something to show to the stockholders and investors. Everyone in the company was in overdrive, working extra hours that Pepper couldn’t afford to pay them for. 

As well as holding her company together, Pepper was also trying to keep herself together. She'd been so swamped with work for the first month, never having any time to really think. But the moment she had a break, all her feelings hit her like a brick- she missed Tony so so much. When they'd mutually decided that they needed a break, Pepper had felt freed. She'd spent more time with her friends, more time at the office. Although they'd decided to stay friends, she hadn't kept in touch with Tony that much, except to talk about company stuff. Now Tony's absence was like a black hole, slowly eating away at her. She missed his laugh, his jokes, his smile, his face, she just missed him. Pepper didn't know what she'd do if Tony was never found-

The phone rang again, snapping Pepper out of her trance. She took another sip of her black coffee and stared at the ringing phone. Her secretary had left for lunch and Pepper didn’t have this number in her contacts. Should she answer it?

Why not, she mused. Maybe it would be that Parker kid. He seemed nice and really looked up to Tony. She wouldn’t mind a call from him.

She picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Pepper, hi, can we talk-”

“What do you want Rogers? And it’s Miss Potts not Pepper.” Pepper couldn’t believe her bad luck. She would prefer to talk to a wall over having a conversation with Steve Rogers. Although it was pretty much the same thing, Rogers was just as stubborn and hard as a brick wall.

“Look, have you heard from Tony recently?” 

“No I haven’t. Even if I had it wouldn’t be any of your business.” Pepper couldn’t believe his nerve, calling her and acting like he even remotely cared about Tony. She had seen that airport video on the Internet, read the press release SHIELD put out, listened to Rogers call Tony a criminal and traitor on TV. He didn’t deserve to speak Tony’s name that son of a-

“Pepper please, are you sure you don’t know where he is?” Pepper cocked her head. Rogers' voice was steady, but over the years Pepper had learned how to read people’s voices. Rogers sounded like he was pleading, as if he was desperate… She quickly opened her laptop and typed in _Tony Stark _. There wasn’t anything new that she hadn’t seen before, no major headlines, just more foolish conspiracy theories. Why would Rogers be asking her this now?__

____

____

“I’ve already told you that I don’t know where he is. Now please stop wasting my time-”

“Do you have any technology that we could use to find him? Like a tracking device or something?”

“Why do you want it?” Pepper asked curiously. The R&D department had tried tracking Tony as soon as it had become clear that he was missing. They’d had no luck in finding him even with their best technology. Pretty much everyone had given up, saying it was a lost cause.

“To find Tony of course-”

“No, I mean why now? It’s been two whole months where the Avengers could have been looking for him. You never called me then. Why now Rogers?” He hesitated. _Aha _, she thought. _Gotcha _.____

_____ _

_____ _

“Miss Potts please we just need some Stark Tech and then we’ll be out of your hair.” Huh, it wasn’t Rogers on the phone now. He had been replaced by the smooth voice of Natasha Romanoff. Pepper suppressed a scoff. That woman… 

“Miss _Rushman _, I guarantee you that Stark Industries will not be giving the Avengers any equipment. Besides, even if I agreed to sell it to you I doubt you could afford it.” When Pepper had seen the amount of money Stark Industries was providing the Avengers, she had been appalled. But Tony had insisted that it was helping his “friends” so she’d let it slide. As soon as Stark stock started slipping, Pepper had ceased all funding for the Avengers. She was confident SHIELD was probably buried in debt now and tried not to laugh at Romanoff’s irritated huff.__

____

____

“Miss Potts, SHIELD will eventually pay you back for the equipment, but we need it right now. It’s an important matter-”

“If it’s so important then why didn’t you call me sooner? Tell me why and I’ll give you the equipment.” There was silence on the other end of the phone. “That’s what I thought.”

“Miss Potts please-” _Click _. Pepper exhaled and leaned back in her chair. Ridiculous. Absolute lunacy. She got up and prayed that she wouldn’t get any more phone calls. She was determined to eat her lunch in peace and then take a very long nap.__

____

____

Apparently God hadn’t heard her prayer, because just as Pepper was about to bite into her sandwich the godforsaken phone rang again. She picked it up and was prepared to give Steve Rogers a piece of her mind when the person on the other end of the line spoke.

“Hey Pep.”

For the first time in two months Pepper Potts smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh poor Sam *shakes head sadly* What a mess he's in... 
> 
> If I'm being perfectly honest, I was really looking forward to having the Scarlet Witch join the MCU when Age of Ultron was announced, but I despise the "redemption arc" she was given. Wanda had a lot of potential but then they had to go and give her that stupid vendetta against Tony. Her logic made me so confused, you don't blame the maker of the bomb, you blame the person who shot it. The way she was completely set on murdering Tony and Steve just lets her on the team- So yeah, prepare for more murderous and manipulative Wanda. 
> 
> Yay Pepper! She knows better than to trust Rogers and Romanoff, that's for sure. 
> 
> Please no critiques or negative comments! Thanks for reading, until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter yay! Not totally happy with this one, but I need to move the plot along. 
> 
> Just as a note- all chapters that have come before this have all taken place on the same day. Peter's interview with the Avengers took place in the morning, Tony escaped around late morning, Tony called Pepper around the afternoon. It's been a hell of a day for the Avengers and it's only going to get worse from here :)
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“Goddamnit!” Clint winced at Fury’s frustrated yell. He’d never seen the Director so… unraveled. God knows they were all feeling the stress of the past two months but Clint could tell that losing Stark had made something snap inside of Fury.

The tension in the Tech Center was maddening. Ever since the botched call with Pepper Potts, Natasha had been silent and Steve had become restless. No one really knew what to do now that getting Stark Industries equipment was out of the question. It angered Clint to no end on how she’d stopped funding them, leaving the Avengers Initiative nearly bankrupt. Figures that Stark’s ex-girlfriend would be just as stubborn as he was.

“We have no leads on where he might be?” Sam asked incredulously. “None at all?”

At first Clint had liked Sam- it was fun playing pranks on him. But nowadays Sam was always being a downer and doubting Steve’s leadership. He was constantly bringing up the fact that “the Avengers needed to change” and that “they weren’t doing things right.” He tried to act all righteous, as if he didn’t oppose the Accords alongside the rest of them. 

“No leads,” Natasha said tersely. Clint had tried to reconnect with Natasha after the Civil War. He still had no idea why she’d supported the Accords in the first place but he was just glad she was on their side now. But now it seemed like Natasha regretted her choice. She had become withdrawn from the team and everytime Clint tried to joke around with her, it just felt forced. 

“Have we tried finding Peter Parker?” Clint asked. “That kid seemed pretty shady. Most kids we meet tend to kind of worship us, but he seemed pretty mad. Maybe he’ll tell us where Stark is.”

Although he had tried to hide it, Clint had really liked the idea of getting to interact with a kid, even if it was in an interview. He’d enjoyed Peter’s child-like enthusiasm and awe in the beginning. It reminded him of his own kids. He really missed them, Cooper, Lila, and even baby Nathaniel. He hadn’t seen them in two months and his heart ached to hug them. When they’d first gotten back to the Compound Clint had tried calling Laura but was sent to voicemail. He’d later received a long email about how disappointed Laura had been when Clint left. She’d asked him why their family wasn’t enough for him, why Captain America mattered more than his kids. Clint had tried to explain the situation but nothing seemed to get through to her. They were back on talking terms and Clint got to call them after missions, but nothing was the same.

That’s all he wanted… for things to go back to how they used to be. No stupid Stark, no Accords, no angry wife, just being with his team again.

“We can try to find him, but how many Peter Parkers are there in New York? Probably thousands,” Hill said. “We know what school he goes to but even if we go and find him, he’ll probably just file a harassment complaint against us. SHIELD can’t deal with a high school student suing them right now.” 

“There has to be someone who can help us,” Steve said, starting to pace across the room. “Isn’t there anyone on our side?”

“We could just tell the people what happened. Stark is one of the most recognizable faces on the planet. If we turn him into an international criminal then he’ll be found in no time,” Wanda reasoned. 

“Trust me, if we tell the public what we did to Stark, I think they’ll be more likely to lock us up,” Sam said bitterly.

“No they won’t,” Wanda argued. “They hate Stark, they know he’s a traitor! They’ll be so mad at him that they won’t care what we did to him.” Clint agreed with her. Nobody actually liked Tony Stark- and even if there were people who did, who would disagree with Captain America? The only reason why everyone wanted to know where Stark was because the public loved to hate him. Besides the Avengers were superheroes. They couldn’t be put in jail. 

Hill shook her head. “Even if they condemn Stark, they’re eventually going to have questions for us. Locking someone up without a trial, secretly trying to drug him, basically kidnapping him… those are serious crimes.”

Fury’s head snapped towards her. “I thought you agreed that it was the only way to contain him Hill. We both came up with the idea.”

She raised her hands defensively. “I’m only stating the facts here. And the facts are not in our favor Nick. I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only one on this team who is starting to realize that what we did to Stark was wrong.” Her eyes swept the room accusingly and she marched out of the room.

Clint knew that at some point they’d crossed a line. They should’ve given Stark a real trial and maybe told the people what was happening right away. But Wanda and Fury were right. Stark would’ve been found guilty anyways. That bastard was a dangerous traitor and needed to be stopped. Locking him up was the only way… 

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud snap. “Wakanda,” Natasha declared, eyes alight with a newfound hope. “The tech in Wakanda is far more advanced than even Stark Tech. T’Challa will help us, I’m sure of it.”

Immediately the intensity of anxiety in the room went down as they all pondered Natasha’s idea. It was brilliant really. After Stark had attacked Bucky and Steve in Siberia they’d taken refuge within the hidden African country. Steve had brought the whole team there after rescuing them from the Raft. They’d only been there for a short amount of time, but from what Clint had seen, Wakanda was extremely advanced and futuristic. It was also where Bucky Barnes was frozen. This way Steve would get to make sure Bucky was extra protected from Stark, as he seemed to have an irrational grudge against the super soldier. At the same time they could have the Wakandan scientists help them track Stark.

“That actually might work,” Sam said slowly. 

“How quickly can we get a jet to Wakanda?” Steve asked, shoulders straightening. 

“Stark blew up all the jets, remember?” Fury said angrily. 

“Weren’t there any jets out of the hangar when the escape happened?” Clint asked, and he hated how desperate he sounded. 

“Wait… I believe there was a team of agents who took a plane out for a training outing. I’ll call them back in right now. Hill!” Fury ran out of the room with a spring in his step. Clint looked around the room and saw something on everyone’s face that he hadn’t seen in ages- hope. 

“Well team, you heard Fury. Suit up and meet down at the hangar. As soon as the Wakandans help us find Tony, we’re going to need our gear to help apprehend him. Iron Man won’t be any match for all of us together. We can do this.” Steve sounded so assured and confident that his words gave Clint a boost of determination. 

“Yeah! Let’s go bring that son of a bitch in!” Clint cheered. Wanda laughed and pumped her fist in agreement.

“Language,” Steve reprimanded, but Clint could tell he was fighting a smile.

_This is going to work_ , he thought as he walked out of the room. _Now should I bring the explosive arrows? Might as well, Stark deserves a good explosion in the face._

He quickly got to his room and tossed on his body armor. It was shitty quality compared to what he used to wear but it would do. That was the only thing Stark was really good for- making their weapons. Grabbing his bow and quiver full of fresh arrows, Clint headed back to the hangar. It was time to make Stark pay.

***

The flight to Wakanda was almost torturous. The pilot insisted that the plane was going as fast as it could but they’d been flying for hours. Maybe it was just because he was so used to the Stark Jets. Still, couldn’t they go any faster? 

Steve tapped his fingers on his shield. It’d been recovered from Siberia and he was glad to have it by his side in battle. Sometimes when he picked it up he’d hear Tony’s voice echoing in his ears( _my father made that shield, you don’t deserve it-_ ) Steve knew that Siberia had been a mistake. He should’ve told Tony about his parents before. But Tony had no right to attack Bucky like that. He knew that Bucky was brainwashed and still tried to kill him. In his opinion Tony’s reaction was proof that Steve was right to not tell Tony the truth. But it was all in the past now. No one but Steve, Tony, Bucky, and Zemo knew what had happened in that bunker and Steve was determined to keep it that way. 

“Are you excited to see Bucky again?” Wanda asked, giving him a shy smile. “I know you really miss him.” Steve grinned back at her.

“Yeah I can’t wait,” he replied. He knew that Bucky was well cared for in Wakanda and was eager to see if the scientists had found a cure yet. Having Bucky back by his side would be amazing… 

“Approaching Wakanda… are you guys sure it’s here? All I see is the jungle.” The pilot pointed through the windows, looking apprehensive.

“Yes we’re sure,” Natasha said. “Just keep going-”

She was interrupted by a loud noise coming from the pilot’s dashboard. A heavily accented voice spoke through the speakers. “Who are you and what business do you have here?” 

Natasha looked slightly startled by the sudden statement but quickly regained her composure. “We’re the Avengers and we’re here to see T’Challa. We need his help.”

There was a pause on the other end. “The king was not aware of your arrival. Did you not contact him?”

Steve grimaced. They probably should have asked T’Challa first but they’d been in such a rush they’d forgotten. 

“No, we forgot to tell T’Challa. But we need his aid right now, it’s an urgent matter.” They all held their breath as they waited for the voice to return. 

“Fine, you are cleared. Continue on the route you’re on, once you enter the city our aircraft will show you where to land.” There was a loud click and the connection ended. Steve let out a sigh of relief. Now that the hard part was over they could finally get on with the mission.

The plane passed through the cloaking barrier and Steve heard someone gasp as the city came into view. The last time they had been here, everyone had still been recovering from the Raft. Wakanda truly was a beautiful country and it was much easier to take in the sights under more relaxed conditions. 

The pilot landed at a large pad near the palace and Steve sprang to his feet. As they emerged from the plane Steve saw who was there to greet them. T’Challa stood in the front with all his guards in formation behind him. The king was accompanied by a young girl who seemed to be dressed more modernly than everyone else.

“Your majesty,” Steve said as he approached T’Challa. 

“Captain Rogers. How may we help you?” 

“Well, we have a bit of a problem that we think your tech can help us with. We need something that can help us track someone,” Steve explained.

“Who are you trying to track?” The young girl standing next to T’Challa asked. 

“I’m afraid that’s classified information young lady,” Steve said. 

“Well it’s my tech you’ll be using so I think I have a right to know who you’re tracking,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Who even are you?” Clint said indignantly. Immediately all the guards raised their spears and stepped forward.

“You will address Princess Shuri as ‘your highness,’” one of them said, edging closer to a frightened looking Clint. 

“Ah yes, I’ve forgotten that you have not been formally introduced. This is my sister Shuri, princess of Wakanda and head of our Technology Division,” T’Challa said, gesturing towards the young girl beside him. 

“I- We’re very sorry about all this confusion T’Challa but-”

“King T’Challa,” Princess Shuri piped up. “If you’re going to call me by my royal title you should probably do the same for my brother.” 

“Yes that’s what I meant,” Steve said through gritted teeth. “King T'Challa, all we need is some technology that will help us track people down. Do you think you can help us?”

T’Challa stared at them for a moment and then glanced back at Princess Shuri. She shrugged. “Follow me inside and we’ll see what we can do for you.” The guards backed off and began to escort them into the palace.

Steve had to jog a little to catch up to the king and his sister. “King T’Challa, I’ve been meaning to ask- how is Bucky? Have you found a cure yet?”

“Sergeant Barnes is the same as always Captain Rogers- frozen.” Princess Shuri laughed at her little joke as they all entered a large elevator. “We have not yet discovered a cure to remove his triggers though. The only possible solution that we have found is a neurological system called BARF.”

“BARF?” Steve asked.

“It stands for binarily augmented retro-framing. Although we don’t know much about it, we’re assuming that it could definitely help Sergeant Barnes’ memories.”

“That sounds great!” Steve said enthusiastically. “Why haven’t you used it yet?”

“Because the creator of BARF is currently missing and no one knows where he or his invention is. Besides the project is owned by Stark Industries and they are very protective about their inventions,” Princess Shuri replied.

“Wait Stark Industries?” Natasha inquired.

“Yes, BARF was created by Tony Stark. But because no one has seen him in two months we haven’t been able to make any progress in that direction. Right now we’ve been looking into…” Princess Shuri’s voice faded into the background as a blinding anger consumed Steve. Tony had created BARF… Tony could help Bucky… Tony had known this and hadn’t helped Bucky… 

“-teve, Steve!” Wanda’s urgent voice broke him out of his trance. “Are you okay?” He nodded mutely. He couldn’t believe Tony, how dare he deny aid to Bucky? As soon as they found him, Steve was going to give Tony a piece of his mind. “We’re at the lab, come on!”

They stepped out of the elevator and moved down a hallway, at last entering a large room filled with holographic screens and strange metal devices. There was a row of Black Panther suits to the side and stacks and stacks of intricate machines. But what caught Steve’s eye was the cryo-freeze chamber in the corner. He rushed towards it and touched the cool glass, staring down into his best friend’s face.

God, he didn’t care what he had to do, he’d do whatever it took to make Tony use BARF on Bucky. He would do anything, anything, he didn’t care who he had to hurt-

“Steve man,” Sam said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “The mission, remember the mission first.” Steve turned around and straightened his shoulders.

“Of course, right,” he said, clearing his throat. “So Princess Shuri, do you have any tech that could help us track somebody down?”

“Like I said before, I would like to know who you’re tracking before I consider it. Also how much will you be paying us if we decide to lend you some equipment?” Steve clenched his fists together. They couldn’t tell her about Tony because she’d ask questions and Steve was pretty sure that SHIELD wouldn’t be able to pay for the equipment.

“Princess I’m afraid we can’t tell you who we’re tracking. And couldn’t you just give us the tech for free? We really need it.” Steve felt like he was begging and he hated begging.

“No answers, no money, no tech,” she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder and starting to walk away.

“Can’t you make an exception? We’re the Avengers!” Clint blurted out exasperatedly.

“So? Do you think that makes you above other people? My scientists work day and night to perfect our machines. What gives you the right to demand to use them for free?” Princess Shuri’s gaze was cold now and out of the corner of his eye Steve could see her guards moving into defensive positions.

“We didn’t mean to imply that Princess, but we’re heroes. We need this equipment to help people,” Steve argued.

“You’re only heroes in America. The rest of the world knows you as terrorists! Don’t forget what happened in Lagos! Our people, _Wakandans_ , died that day!” Princess Shuri exploded. “Brother you can deal with them, I can’t do it anymore.”

The whole room was filled with protests from Steve and his team as Princess Shuri walked away followed by her guards. Steve noticed that Wanda was trembling and wrapped his arm around her reassuringly. Princess or not, Shuri had no right to bring up Lagos. Everyone knew it was an accident, there was no need to bring it up again.

“Well, I’m very sorry about this, but you heard my sister-” T’Challa was interrupted by the sound of a door opening and a new voice.

“What’s all the noise about Princess, can’t a man rest in peace?” Poking his head out of a doorway in the side of the lab was James Rhodes. His eyes scanned the room for Princess Shuri but as soon as they rested on Steve and his team, they grew wide with anger. “Oh hell no,” he declared, and promptly closed the door he had come from. Steve hadn’t noticed the door in the lab before and now he realized it was because it looked just like the wall. It was as if the door was supposed to be a secret… 

“Rhodes?” Sam whispered in confusion. 

“What just happened?” Clint asked.

Rhodes was in Wakanda… in a hidden room… Tony had to be here! He had to be hiding here in Wakanda! T’Challa let Tony into Wakanda, Steve had to find Tony, he had to make Tony help Bucky-

Before he even knew what he was doing, Steve was racing towards where he’d seen Rhodes, Tony was probably in that room too! He ran over to the wall and started looking for where the door was.

“Captain Rogers, I must ask you to stop this right now! Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes is a guest of Wakanda, you will not disturb him!” T’Challa yanked Steve away from the wall, eyes dark and commanding. 

“Your majesty, are you hiding Tony Stark?” Steve asked outright. His team moved to stand behind him and they all stared at T’Challa accusingly.

“No I am not Captain. Please calm yourself now. I will explain everything now.” The king gestured towards an empty table. “Sit, and we will discuss these matters.” Steve grudgingly sat down, but he couldn’t stop looking at Bucky’s cryo-chamber longingly.

“Your majesty if you’re hiding Tony Stark you need to hand him over to us.” There was a flicker of annoyance on T’Challa’s face at Steve’s words.

“I’ve already told you that we are not hiding Stark Captain Rogers. Do you not trust my word?”

“No, we trust you, it’s just that you’re hiding Rhodes-”

“I am not hiding Colonel Rhodes. I am offering him _shelter_ while he recovers from his injury,” T’Challa stated. “Our scientists are working to help him walk again.”

Steve frowned. “Shouldn’t helping Bucky be your first priority?”

T’Challa’s jaw hardened. “You do not decide what my scientists do Captain. If you’ll remember, it is _my_ country that is taking care of Sergeant Barnes, _my_ countrymen who are looking for the cure. It is my choice to help both Sergeant Barnes and Colonel Rhodes.”

“I’m sorry your majesty. Of course you can help Rhodes. I would just like to know why you didn’t tell us about how you were keeping him here. Did you help him escape the hospital? Rhodes is an Avenger afterall, his wellbeing is our business.”

“On the contrary Captain, that information is- how do I put it? Classified.” Steve swore he saw a hint of a smirk on the king’s face. “I believe that Colonel Rhodes is getting along quite fine here. He has never expressed any desire to rejoin the Avengers or communicate with you. It’s his choice. Everyone is welcome to their own choice, right Captain?” Yes, T’Challa was definitely smirking now.

“Well I’d like to talk to Rhodes himself. We need to ask him about Tony,” Steve said.

“Then ask away Rogers.” They all quickly turned to see Rhodes standing in front of them, eyes full of anger.

The first thing Steve noticed was his legs. They were in some sort of metal brace that looked sleek and very advanced. The next thing Steve saw was Rhodes’ face. Creased with stress lines, his face looked far older than Steve remembered it. “Rhodes, it’s good to see you-”

“Let’s cut the bullshit Rogers. What are you doing here? Where is Tony?” Rhodes’ fists were shaking and his eyes cut through Steve like a knife.

“Don’t you know where Stark is?” Clint asked confusedly.

“Of course I don’t! He’s been missing for two months! No one has seen him, no one has heard from him! Why would I know where he would be?” Rhodes’ voice was rising and his jaw trembled. “I don’t know where he is! For all I know he could be dead!” On the last word his voice cracked and the whole room fell silent.

“Rhodes, I guarantee you that Tony isn’t dead,” Steve said softly. 

“How do you know that Rogers? How?” Both Rhodes and T’Challa’s eyes were narrowed now, looking at him with suspicion. 

“I… I…” Steve tried to say, but couldn’t find the right words.

“You know what? Save it. I’m tired of listening to your ‘everything will be alright’ bullcrap. I don’t want to be an Avenger again, I don’t know where Tony is, and I don’t want to talk to you anymore.” He gave them all a look of disgust and started walking away.

“Rhodes, wait!” Sam called. Rhodes turned to look back at him. “I… I’m sorry about your legs. I’m glad you’re walking again.” Rhodes glanced at Sam appraisingly. He gave him a firm nod.

“Wasn’t your fault Wilson. You have nothing to be sorry about… yet.” With that, Rhodes walked back into his room, steps echoing in Steve’s head. 

T’Challa stood up and shook his head at them. “I must ask you to leave my country. We have nothing else to discuss and I have more important duties to attend to.”

“Wait, your majesty, but the equipment! We need it!” Steve sputtered.

“You heard my sister Captain. She does not want to give you _her_ inventions. I will escort you back up to your ship now, and then you will leave my country.” They all reeled back at T’Challa’s tone. Steve thought the king was on their side, but maybe he was wrong… 

“What about Bucky?” Steve asked, sparing one last glance towards his frozen friend. 

T’Challa’s face softened. “Sergeant Barnes will be well taken care of. I promise we will do everything we can to help him.” Steve nodded mutely. 

“Steve, let’s go,” Natasha said, tugging on his arm. “We have to leave now. Let’s not overstay our welcome.” They walked back down the hallway and entered the elevator. Steve looked around and saw varying shades of disappointment, anger, and confusion on everyone’s faces.

“What are we going to do now?” Clint asked. “Rhodes and T’Challa won’t help us. How are we going to find Stark?”

“I… I don’t know,” Sam whispered. “Oh god, we’re so screwed…”

“Don’t say that,” Steve said loudly. Everyone turned towards him. “Look, I know things seem hopeless right now. I know things aren’t turning out like we thought they would. But we can’t give up. You get hit, you get back up again. We’re going to find Tony. I know we will.” Something about seeing Bucky had given Steve a newfound strength. He was filled with determination. They would find Tony. They would make Tony help Bucky. Steve would finally have Bucky again. 

Clint and Wanda looked emboldened by Steve’s words, while Sam still looked hopeless and Natasha’s face was as blank as ever. Even if his team was divided, Steve knew they could do it.

They were the Avengers. No matter what the odds were, they always made it through. They could do it. They could do anything.

***

Rhodes closed the door and sat down, legs shaking. He was usually good at controlling the shakes, but he found he couldn’t stop himself.

How dare he? How dare Rogers talk to him like that? How could he know that Tony wasn’t dead? Rogers would probably be happy if Tony was dead. Hell, maybe Rogers had killed Tony-

_Nononononono_ , Rhodes told himself. _Tony isn’t dead. He can’t be._ He let out a noise that was half of a sob and half of a delirious laugh. _Tony is too stubborn to die._ All Rhodes had to do was wait. 

He gritted his teeth. Waiting was the only thing he had been doing for the past two months. 

When he had seen the news broadcast saying that Rogers was a hero and that the Accords were no more, Rhodes knew he needed to run. He’d managed to get into contact with King T’Challa, who had sent people to help him get out of hospital and bring him back to Wakanda. Once he was in Wakanda Princess Shuri had offered to make him braces for his legs. Rhodes was glad he had taken up on her offer. Being back on his feet gave him something to hold onto while his world fell apart.

From his small secret bedroom Rhodes had to watch the fall of Stark Industries(he longed to hug Pepper and Happy), the rise of SHIELD, and witness the public turn against Tony, the very man who had flown through a portal with a nuke to save them all. Thankfully Rhodes knew that there were still people that weren’t as blind as the rest. From what Princess Shuri had been telling him, pretty much every Wakandan despised Maximoff and the Avengers. There were also a couple of active protest groups around the world, mostly in Romania and Lagos. But they were always silenced in America and depicted in the news as “terrorists.” 

A couple Americans were starting to get a clue ever since one of the Avengers’ recent missions had damaged a good portion of downtown Los Angeles. But who would dare question the great Captain America?

Rhodes scoffed. He had never fallen for the “star-spangled man” spiel, but even he had to admit he had been slightly awestruck when he’d met Steve Rogers. For a while he hadn’t seen the blatant abuse the team had demonstrated towards Tony. Once he’d figured it out he talked to Tony about it, begging him to leave the team. And for a while he had. After Ultron, Rhodes had spent many nights witnessing his best friend be stricken with guilt. Rhodes had taken Tony’s spot on the team and just barely tolerated Rogers. But the Civil War had been the last straw. Any bit of respect Rhodes had for Captain America had ended when Rogers had refused to sign the Accords. 

The Accords… somehow SHIELD had gotten the UN to disband the Accords. A whole set of laws and regulations, tossed out the window just because Rogers didn’t want the big bad government to control him. Did the Avengers know that SHIELD was making them their little puppets? Did Romanoff and Barton realize that although HYDRA was gone, SHIELD was still corrupt? Did Rogers comprehend that _everyone_ on Earth had an agenda- and Nick Fury was no different?

Just seeing their faces was enough to make Rhodes go into a fit of anger. But he couldn’t afford to do that. He had to stay calm and level headed. When Tony showed up he would need Rhodes by his side. The Avengers had made a huge mess and Rhodes would not let Tony believe that it was his responsibility to fix it.

There was a soft knock and Rhodes staggered to his feet and opened the door. Standing in the doorway was a sheepish looking T’Challa.

“I would like to apologize for that… unfortunate run-in,” the King said, wringing his hands together. “I did not expect them to be so loud and am sorry if they disturbed you.”

“It’s fine your majesty,” Rhodes said. “If I may ask… why did you bring them down here at all? I’m sure Shuri did not want them in the lab.”

T’Challa sighed. “I admit, I was very tempted to send their ship back to America as soon as we saw them coming. However, there are appearances to keep up. Having the Avengers and SHIELD as our enemy would be unwise, as Wakanda is still trying to reintroduce itself to the world.” Rhodes nodded in understanding. Over the past month the Wakandans had decided to reemerge from their hiding and use their resources to help others. Kicking the Avengers out of their country wouldn’t do T’Challa any favors. “I also did not want to stop Captain Rogers from seeing Sergeant Barnes. We all know how… delicate the Captain is when it comes to Barnes.

Rhodes grimaced. He tried not to think about the frozen super-soldier that lived next door to him. He knew that Barnes wasn’t responsible for the Vienna bombing and was sympathetic about his horrible past with HYDRA, but Rhodes couldn’t help the shivers that crept up his spine when he saw Barnes’ frozen figure. He agreed with T’Challa- Steve Rogers would do anything for Bucky Barnes. The Civil War had proven that.

“I understand fully,” Rhodes said. “Why were they here?” 

“They wanted tech that would help them track people down. I might have given it to them, were it not for the fact that they seem to be hiding something. They would not tell us who they were tracking, which was very… sketchy. Also they wanted us to give them the tech for free.” T’Challa made a face.

“Who would they be looking for?” Rhodes mused.

“I have my suspicions,” T’Challa said, eyeing Rhodes knowingly.

“You don’t think…” Rhodes said slowly. “Tony? You think they’re looking for Tony?”

T’Challa sighed. “It would make sense, except for the fact that it's been two months since Tony Stark has gone missing. Why would they come to us for help now?”

They were both silent for a moment as they pondered the question, when they were interrupted by an exclamation of surprise outside of the room. They both moved out into the lab and were met by a bewildered Shuri. “Someone has hacked into my tablet, come see!”

Rhodes and T’Challa leaned over her shoulder and saw that the tablet’s screen was completely black except for a smiley-face in the middle and the words Sorry but you’ve been hacked!

“Who could’ve done this?” Shuri said in amazement, fruitlessly tapping at the unresponsive screen. “They must be an excellent hacker, this is a secure tablet!”

“Aw, Princess Shuri, you flatter me!” All of a sudden the blank screen was filled with a familiar face. Rhodes' jaw fell open as he saw Tony Stark on the other end of the screen.

“T-T-Tony?” Rhodes asked, hands trembling as he took the tablet from Shuri.

“Rhodey!” Tony’s face lit up at the sight of Rhodes and in turn, Rhodes’ face broke into a huge smile. “How’s life in Wakanda treating you? Must be fun getting to hangout with a technical genius like Princess Shuri here.”

“Tony, I… where have you been? Where are you? What’s going on?” Rhodes was so overwhelmed by everything that was happening, he had to stagger over to a chair and set the tablet down. “Tony I was so worried about you!”

His best friend’s face softened at his words. Rhodes vaguely noticed how tired Tony looked, the bags under his eyes were bigger than he’d ever seen them. “For the past few months I’ve been… a little tied up. I wanted to contact you sooner, I swear, but I just got out-”

“Got out from where Tony?” Rhodes asked. “Where were you?”

“Uh well… long story short, SHIELD kind of imprisoned me.” 

Rhodes blinked. “I’m sorry- what did you just say?”

“I was being held against my will at the Compound for the past two months, it’s really a funny story-”

“Are you kidding me?” Rhodes yelled. “Are you telling me that the Avengers kept you prisoner?”

“Uh, well, yes, but I’m handling it Rhodey, no need to-”

“Those assholes!” Rhodes cursed. “I can’t believe them! I knew I should’ve punched Rogers when I had the chance, stuck that pretty little shield up his-”

“Rhodey, Rhodey, slow down, it’s okay, I escaped! I’m free, it’s all good, it’s all good!” Rhodes clenched his fists and stared at the screen with disbelieving eyes.

“Tones, you’re not defending them are you?” Rhodes asked incredulously.

“Oh hell no, I’m just as pissed as you are. I’m already concocting the perfect payback plan. Just don’t worry yourself about Rogers and his crew, I’ll handle them!” Tony sounded so nonchalant and flippant but Rhodes could see through his disguise. Tony was angry, probably more angry than Rhodes was. He couldn’t imagine the pain Tony had gone through over the past two months… all alone, held against his will… 

“Can I help? I want to kick Rogers’ ass all the way to the moon, I swear! Can’t believe he lied to my face!” Rhodes ranted. 

“Of course you can help Rhodey, that’s why I’m calling. Wait- lied to your face? When did you see Rogers?” 

“Yeah, he and his team were just here. They wanted tech to help track someone… wait! They were trying to track you! Chrissakes, it all makes sense now!”

“Wait, so they were in Wakanda? Wow, that was actually pretty smart of them, I wasn’t expecting that,” Tony muttered. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“No, I’m fine. But they had the audacity to act like they didn’t know where you were.”

“Yeah, well can’t say I’m not surprised. Their pride must be mortally wounded right now. You guys didn’t give them the tech, right?”

“Of course not Mr. Stark. I would never let those liars get their hands on my tech,” Shuri proclaimed loudly as she squeezed into the camera frame. 

“Thank you for that Princess. I’m so honored to be talking with you, I must say that this tablet’s coding was impeccable. It took me a while to hack into it. I would love to work with you one day.” Shuri looked positively delighted at the prospect, but Rhodes had bigger things on his mind.

“Alright, you two geniuses can geek out together later, after we get revenge on Rogers. We are getting revenge right?” Rhodes asked hopefully.

Tony flashed his trademark smirk and winked. “Of course we’re getting revenge. I honestly feel bad for those poor schmucks. Wait, no I don’t!” Rhodes laughed. God, he’d missed his best friend.

“Where are you right now? I want to come and help you, I’ll be there as soon as possible,” he said eagerly.

“I’m at our secret lake house Rhodey Bear!” Rhodes chuckled as he remembered that one night in college. They’d been joking about where they were going for spring break and Rhodes had talked about how much he wanted to go to a lake and swim. The next day Tony had handed him the deed to a private hidden lake house in the middle of nowhere. They’d spent many summers enjoying privacy and isolation there. The house had been bought under a fake name so Rhodes knew there was no way the Avengers would ever know to look there. “I was thinking about taking a dip in the lake after I’ve exposed all of the Avengers’ secrets, wanna join me?” 

“Sounds good,” Rhodes said with a grin. “God, Tones… I missed you. Never get abducted again. My heart can’t handle it.”

“Aw, Rhodey, you do love me! I’ll tell you my master plan as soon as you get here, there’s some important people I want to introduce to you too. And Princess Shuri, if you have the time, I have some files that need to be hacked into. Do you think you could come over here and help me? Assuming you want to help take down the Avengers, that is.”

T’Challa raised his hand as if to protest, but Shuri immediately nodded eagerly. “I’d love to help! Brother, you can’t stop me, I’m going!”

“I wasn’t going to stop you,” T’Challa said. “I merely wanted to ask Mr. Stark something. How did you know Colonel Rhodes was here?”

“Call it an educated guess,” Tony said, shrugging. “Besides, you have a habit of hiding people these days, don’t you King Kitty?” Everyone in the room stiffened as they turned to look at the frozen Bucky Barnes in the corner. 

“Mr. Stark, is what Captain Rogers said true? Did you randomly attack Sergeant Barnes in Siberia?” Rhodes frowned at T’Challa’s question. He knew Tony would never do that and that there was more to the story. 

Tony let out a long sigh. “Leave it to Rogers to not tell the whole story. Trust me when I say that while I did attack Barnes, it was under… extenuating circumstances. All will be revealed in good time. I have no intentions of hurting him now.” The king nodded at his words. 

“Very well then. I’m very sorry for what the Avengers did to you Mr. Stark. If I had known, I would have stopped it.”

“It’s fine, you didn’t know,” Tony said dismissively. “Thank you for taking care of my Rhodey. Especially you Princess, those leg braces look amazing.” Rhodes noticed a note of sadness in Tony’s voice as he looked at his legs. “I’m sending you the lake house coordinates right now. See you soon Rhodey?”

Rhodes smiled at his best friend. The waiting was finally over. It was time for revenge. “See you soon Tones.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh I hope I didn't stuff too much in one chapter. If anyone needs clarification: Rhodes was in Wakanda this whole time in a hidden room in the lab. Tony figured out where Rhodes was and hacked into Shuri's tablet to communicate with him. Shuri and Rhodey are on their way to join Tony at their super secret lake house- Team Tony unite!
> 
> Although T'Challa did provide aid for Bucky, he also originally supported the Accords. So I think it's reasonable to say that he doesn't actually like Team Cap. Him hiding Rhodes was an idea I've had from the beginning, mostly because I love the idea of Shuri and Rhodes being besties. 
> 
> Something that has always made me feel uneasy is how the MCU fandom views Steve's obvious attachment issues to Bucky. Yes, I understand that he is all he has left and that they were best friends. Honestly I seriously felt for Steve in CAWS... but really... the Civil War was less about the Accords and more about saving Bucky for Steve. Steve has no qualms about who he hurts and what he does, as long as he's with Bucky. Although many people romanticize it, I always feel like it was a bit of an unhealthy obsession. There's a great fic by KahunaBurger that puts it perfectly- **"Concerns About Team Dynamics."** Anyways, what I'm trying to convey here is how Steve tends to become a little manic when it comes to Bucky's safety. For him, Bucky will always come first, over anything else. That's why what Steve did in Endgame really upset me- I mean he burned down the Avengers for Bucky, and now you're just going to leave- sorry, still salty about Endgame...
> 
> I'm going to be pretty busy in the upcoming weeks, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to update. 
> 
> Thank you for reading and please no critiques or negative comments!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I just need to say R.I.P Chadwick Boseman. Not only was Black Panther a revolutionary movie, but Chadwick Boseman himself was a true role model and real life hero. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that he's gone. Thank you Chadwick Boseman for the energy, effort, and time you put into making the world shine.
> 
> Second of all, wow, I haven't posted in a while. I've been so busy the last couple of weeks, but I finally have time to post! 
> 
> This chapter is a little shorter than the others, but that's because it's setting the scene for a whole lot of action and plot... 
> 
> I'm also really proud of all the references I put in this chapter(there's a lot of them) and liked writing this one. I hope you enjoy it!

Natasha had a horrible headache. She was drinking her Russian herbal tea that usually helped soothe the pain, but the nasty throbbing in her head just wouldn’t go away. As she sipped her tea in the lounge, she heard Hill and Fury arguing in the other room. Did they have to be so goddamn loud?

“How’s your headache Nat? Are you feeling better?” Steve sat down next to her and stared at her concernedly. She hated how he was looking at her, like she was a little puppy that he had to look after. 

“I’m fine,” she replied smoothly, setting her cup down. “Any leads?”

Steve’s mouth briefly slipped into a frown before he quickly transformed it into a reassuring smile. “Not yet but Fury and Hill are working on something right now.” Natasha suppressed a snort. Steve’s optimistic spirit was getting on her nerves. 

“Is Clint still mad?” Ever since they’d gotten back from Wakanda Clint had been ranting nonstop, cursing Stark, King T’Challa, and every other person under the sun. Natasha had to admit that she was also disappointed that going to Wakanda hadn’t worked out. She’d been so sure that T’Challa would help them. Natasha could practically hear Tony’s voice in her head, sneering at her. _It sucks when people who you thought were on your side betray you like that, doesn’t it?_

“No, he’s calmed down. He’s with Wanda, they’re heading over here right now with Sam. Once they get here we can start planning.” Natasha nodded. They needed to strategize and figure things out, they couldn’t just sit around and do nothing anymore. “Do you have any ideas on where Tony might be?”

Natasha sighed and took another sip of tea. “We should check all his properties. Stark Tower, I believe he has a house in London, and he probably has other places all over the world.”

“But those would be so obvious, why would he hide there?” Steve asked. 

“Because it’s so obvious that he knows we would never bother checking there. Plus all those places would have a lab and access to technology. Assuming that he wants to expose what we did to him to the world, he’d need connection to the Internet and some way to contact people.”

“That seems pretty straightforward,” Steve said. “He has to be in one of those houses. Why don’t we go look now?”

Natasha rubbed her temples. “Because, if what all those agents said is true, Tony is in the Iron Man suit. That means that not only is he armed and can travel fast, he doesn’t need to be in his houses to connect to the Internet. For all we know, he could be hovering over a random spot in the Pacific Ocean right now.” They both fell silent as they took in the enormity of the task before them. 

“Sorry for the wait,” Wanda interrupted. She, Clint, and Sam entered the lounge and sat down on the couch with Steve and Natasha. “So do we have a plan yet?”

Natasha felt a hint of irritation at Wanda’s expectant face. Did she really think it was that simple? “No we do not. In fact, I was just telling Steve how hard it’s going to be to find Tony.”

Wanda’s face scrunched up in confusion. “How? Stark’s not that smart, he’s probably just at his tower right now. He doesn’t have anywhere else to go.”

There were so many things wrong with that statement that Natasha didn’t know where to start. Tony was many things, a true pain in the ass, a narcissist, a billionaire, but even she had to admit that he was a certifiable genius. SHIELD had truly underestimated him. They had all underestimated him. Natasha was just about to repeat what she’d just told Steve to Wanda, when Hill and Fury entered the room. Both looked disgruntled and frazzled.

“Great, now that we’re finally all here we can try to formulate a plan,” Fury said. “Hill and I have been discussing possible options.” Natasha tried not to snort out loud. Discussing possible options? More like having an argument that broke the sound barrier. 

Hill sighed. “Since Stark Industries and Wakanda are out of the picture, there’s no way we’re tracking Stark with technology. The only person that might have the knowledge to pinpoint Stark’s location is Dr. Banner… but obviously that’s not happening.” There was an awkward pause as everyone tried to sneak a look at Natasha. She restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Whatever she and Bruce used to have… was fleeting. Even if he’d stayed, Natasha seriously doubted that it would’ve worked out. She cleared her throat and looked back at Hill.

“What about tracking his arc reactor? The energy signature on the device must be really unique, maybe our scientists could figure something out,” Sam said. Natasha raised her eyebrows. It wasn’t a bad idea and was surprisingly smart.

“Again, only Banner could help us there. SHIELD’s technology department isn’t equipped to deal with the arc reactor. As hard as we tried, we couldn’t get a good blueprint of the device from Stark. He was always so secretive about it.” Hill grimaced. “The only person on this planet smart enough to find Stark… is Stark himself.”

“That’s not true though,” Fury butted in. “There is somebody that might know where he is.”

“I already told you Nick, we’re not going to him!” Hill said angrily. 

“It’s our only lead Hill, I’m sorry if you don’t like it, but we have to find Stark! He’s our only clue!”

“Who?” Steve said confusedly.

“Peter Parker,” Fury said bitterly. “He purposefully distracted you and aided in Stark’s escape. We have to question him.”

“Hold on, we don’t even know if this kid meant to be a part of this!” Sam protested. “For all we know, he could’ve been used!”

“Exactly!” Hill exclaimed. “We can’t go terrorizing some kid for being used!”

“It’s not terrorizing, we just need to find him and make him tell us what he knows!” Fury shot back. 

“And how do you plan on doing that?” Natasha asked curiously. “It’s not like we can actually bring him in and interrogate him.”

“The kid will talk to us, you guys are the Avengers! What person isn’t going to help Captain America?” Fury had a point, but Natasha didn’t think that Peter Parker was the biggest Captain America fan, not after that disastrous interview. 

Hill obviously agreed with Natasha. “You didn’t see him during that interview Fury, Parker was practically yelling at Rogers! Maximoff said that he hated us!” 

“It’s true,” Wanda piped up. “He doesn’t like us at all.”

“See? We’d have to be insane to go after Parker. Best case scenario he ignores us and refuses to talk to us. Worst case scenario? He calls the cops on us for harassing him and sues us or something.” Hill crossed her arms over her chest and seemed to think that was the end of the discussion. But then Steve spoke up.

“Surely we can appeal to Peter? If we explain the situation to him, then he’ll understand and help us!” Natasha couldn’t believe Steve’s naivete. Maybe Steve was used to getting his way all the time, but she knew that no one would side with the Avengers if they told them what they’d done to Tony. 

“Yeah, if we tell him all the bad things Stark has done then he’ll realize why we had to imprison him!” Wanda said. 

“Look, I know you hate the idea but let’s at least take a vote,” Fury said to Hill. “It’s only fair.” Hill looked like she wanted to argue, but just shook her head in defeat. 

“Fine let’s put it to a vote. Who wants to go after Peter Parker and force him to help us?” Natasha watched as both Fury and Steve’s hands went up. Sam and Hill were looking at them in shock and disgust. Wanda raised her hand and Clint slowly did the same. He caught Natasha’s eyes and shrugged.

“Hey, worse comes to worse, we can always offer the kid some money. I’m not above bribery,” he said. “What do you think Nat?” Everyone turned towards Natasha and stared at her expectantly. 

“I think… I think it’s the only thing we can do right now. As much as I don’t like it, Peter Parker is our only lead. We just have to be careful about how we do this.” Natasha hesitantly raised her hand and tried not to wince when she saw Hill’s disappointed face.

“There you have it! 5-2, we’re going after Parker!” Fury said almost gleefully. 

Hill sighed angrily. “Okay if we’re going through with this we need to get it right. Fury, Barton, and Rogers you go to Parker’s school. Even if he isn’t there, you’ll probably find a teacher or student that does know him. Oh, and make sure you go in disguise. It’s going to look pretty suspicious if the Avengers are seen looking for a random high school student.”

Fury tilted his head in acknowledgement, although it didn’t seem like he had really been listening to Hill. He looked towards Natasha. “Romanoff, how about you pull up Parker’s file? Just send us all the information later, we need to get going now. Everyone else… I guess you can just stay here.” 

Sam rolled his eyes at Fury’s words. “For the record I was against this idea. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when this all goes south,” he said bluntly before walking out of the room. Steve looked like he wanted to go after Sam but Fury stopped him.

“Let Wilson go. He’ll see that we were right in the end. Right now we need to go find Parker,” Fury said firmly. “Remember to send us that file, okay Romanoff?”

Natasha nodded. Fury and Clint walked out of the room, followed by Steve who briefly looked back at them. “See you in a minute,” he said with a reassuring smile. Natasha tried to muster the strength to smile back at him, but she found that she couldn’t.

As soon as the three of them left the room, Hill immediately turned to Natasha and glared at her furiously. “I can’t believe you Romanoff. I expected this from Rogers and Barton, but I didn’t think you’d agree with this plan.”  
Natasha winced at Hill’s angry tone. “It’s our only option, Hill. If you haven’t noticed, we’re running out of time. It won’t be long until Tony makes his move. We need to think ahead. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Besides, the vote would've still been 4-3, even if I voted against it.”

Hill scoffed. “Right, always with the excuses. I bet you could’ve talked Rogers down from it. If you took one second to think about the consequences of your choices then we wouldn’t be in situations like this.”

Natasha was sure that Hill was referencing the events of the Civil War. She had to admit that some nights she wondered what would’ve happened if she hadn’t let Steve go. If she had stopped him and Bucky and stayed loyal to ~~Tony~~ the Accords… But she’d had no choice, there was no point in bringing it up now. She hated that Hill was trying to guilt her about this. 

“You’re trying to pin this on me?” Natasha shot back fiercely. “You give into Fury all the time and never even bother fighting back! The vote wouldn’t have needed to happen if you just had a backbone!”

Hill stood up, eyes blazing with fire. “Don’t you dare blame this on me Romanoff! I’ve been trying my best to hold this team together, but I’m starting to realize that it’s just about impossible. At this point the Avengers are just a ticking time bomb waiting to implode.” It was eerily similar to what Bruce had said when the Avengers first assembled. Natasha couldn’t help but feel a shiver go down her spine. 

“Well I think we made the right decision,” Wanda interrupted. Both Hill and Natasha turned to glare at her. “What? Natasha is right, we have no other options. Plus Peter Parker is against us. He chose his side and now he has to pay the consequences.” 

Hill huffed in disbelief. “You know what? I’m done arguing about this. This is going to backfire on us, I just know it. Don't be surprised when this doesn't end as well as you thought it would.” With that, she stormed out of the room.

Wanda sighed and got up. “You are all overreacting. I’m going to find Sam and try to make him stop worrying so much. Honestly, there’s nothing to worry about. What’s Peter Parker going to do, fight us?” She laughed at her own joke and walked away, leaving Natasha alone with her thoughts. 

She slowly took another sip of her tea. Although she hated to admit it, Wanda was kind of right. Things were falling apart faster than she thought they would. Tony’s escape had been the straw that broke the camel’s back, and if they didn’t act fast and decisively, the Avengers would be no more. Peter Parker was their only lead and they couldn’t just ignore a possible threat.

She pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind. Mission now, damage control later. She grabbed a tablet from the coffee table and started to pull up Peter Parker’s file. There wasn’t much on him, considering that SHIELD hadn’t thought of him as much of a threat. He was an orphan, raised by his uncle and aunt(Natasha vaguely remembered Parker saying something about an Aunt May.) He was a very intelligent student, top of his science and math classes. Maybe that was why he’d caught Tony’s attention. Although the file didn’t list a home address, they still had his school’s address. Peter Parker wasn’t even supposed to be the interviewer, Natasha realized as she read through the file. A girl named Michelle Jones was originally supposed to interview them, but had pulled out at the last minute. Interesting… Natasha quickly sent the entire file to Clint and Fury knowing it might be helpful.

In all honesty, Natasha didn’t really think the Parker boy was part of Tony’s scheme. She’d always been under the impression that Tony didn’t like kids. Parker had probably been unknowingly used as a distraction. It was just like Tony to use other people to achieve his goals for him. However this Parker boy was their only lead as to where Tony was, so it was crucial that they covered all their bases. 

She sat back on the couch and rubbed her head. Her headache was back, causing her whole head to throb. Draining the rest of her tea, Natasha slumped back into the couch. As she stared at the picture of Peter Parker on the tablet, she swore she could hear Tony’s voice echo through the room, taunting her.

_Oh little spider, what a mess you’re in. You’ve spun your web of lies, now you’re stuck in it. And this time I’m not here to bail you out._

***

Hill marched through the hallways, sending nasty glares towards anyone in her path. The audacity of Romanoff to insinuate that this was her fault, the nerve of Fury to use such a cheap tactic to get his way, the idiocy of Rogers, Maximoff, and Barton… this was shaping up to be a disaster that even Hill couldn’t fix. 

She reached the end of the hallway and opened the door to her office. She walked in and collapsed on her chair, staring down at her desk full of trivial paperwork. The last time she’d been in this room had been before the interview with Peter Parker, before Stark’s escape, before this series of unfortunate events had hit them. 

She opened a bottle of water and gulped it down. _Okay Maria, calm down. You’ve faced worse- the Chitauri invasion, HYDRA, even Ultron._ Yet this didn’t reassure Hill. Sure, killer aliens, spies, and robots were terrifying. But the wrath of Iron Man and the rage of the public scared Hill more than any of those other enemies. The worst part was that they had brought this on themselves. At this point, they couldn’t even blame Stark… 

_Bzzz, bzzz, bzzz!_ The sound of Hill’s phone startled her out of her trance. She grabbed the phone and stared at the screen. Unknown caller… She picked it up and raised the phone to her ear. “Agent Hill here.”

“Why hello Agent Hill. I was hoping you’d pick up.” Hill’s blood froze and she dropped the bottle of water she was holding. She vaguely noticed the water spilling onto her lap, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t believe this…

“I… Stark?” She whispered.

“The one and only,” he said. Hill could practically see the smirk on his face. “Oh, and don’t even think about getting your tech department to try and track this call. It’ll just cause your phone to play AC/DC for 24 hours straight. Hate to disappoint you, but they didn’t label me as a tech genius for no reason.”

“I-I wasn’t thinking about tracing the call,” Hill stuttered, quickly taking her hand off the emergency button under her desk. 

“Don’t lie to me Agent, I know you better than that. After all, you used to work for me.” Hill winced in remembrance of her short lived employment at Stark Industries. After SHIELD had fallen, Stark had taken her into the company for a couple months until SHIELD got itself back on its feet. Her time there had been… different than what she was used to. Stark had gotten her a job in PR and even walked her into the office himself.

“I know it’s not what you’re used to,” he’d said, with a smile on his face. “But I do hope you like it here. Pepper works three floors above you and she says you’re welcome to eat lunch with her. The R&D labs are just an elevator away if you ever need anything.” Hill had simply nodded along, not really listening to what he was saying. She had never bothered eating lunch with Pepper or visiting Stark. Back then she’d been too focused on SHIELD that she hadn’t seen the opportunities right in front of her. 

If Hill was being perfectly honest, she’d liked it at Stark Industries. Her boss, a kind but assertive woman named Lillian, had been so different from Fury. She always asked Hill for her opinions on things and made sure to include her in their meeting discussions. And she was treated well at the company, with excellent healthcare and good pay. Despite Fury’s insistence that Stark wasn’t a “team player,” she’d never heard any complaints from her fellow employees. In fact whenever Stark dropped by the PR office he seemed to be on friendly terms with everyone, knowing their names and asking about their families. 

Hill had looked past all this and instead resented Stark. Having to take a job from him had seemed humiliating and demeaning, especially having him as her boss. When she’d told him she was quitting and leaving to go back to SHIELD, he just nodded knowingly and wished her luck. She hadn’t thought twice about her time at Stark Industries since. So why was she suddenly longing to go back to those days now?

“Well I don’t work for you anymore, and you’re not the boss of me,” Hill said, trying to make herself sound confident. Instead she sounded like a frightened child, desperately trying to sound like an adult. “If I want to trace the call I will. And we will find you.”

“Will you now?” Stark asked, chuckling to himself. “Good luck with that.”

“Why are you calling Stark? What do you want?” Hill demanded. The fact that he did not even seem to be slightly bothered by Hill’s threats unnerved her. 

“What, I can’t just call my former jailer for fun?” Stark’s voice was still light, but she could sense a bit of strain beneath it. “Maybe I just wanted to check in on how you guys are doing over there. I’m sure you’re pretty bummed after King Kitty rejected you.”

“What- How do you know about that?” Hill stammered. Damn, it must’ve been Rhodes… 

“A little birdie told me all about your frankly undiplomatic encounter with the Wakandan royalty. Sheesh, I thought you were keeping the Avengers under better control Agent.”

“I don’t control the Avengers,” she snapped.

“Really? That’s surprising. After all, I thought you were the one who proposed locking me up.” 

“That was Fury,” she said through gritted teeth. “I didn’t come up with the idea.” _Stop sounding defensive, stop feeling guilty_ , she told herself.

“Of course it was Fury,” he drawled. “But I’m assuming that when he said that you should imprison me, you didn’t exactly protest on my behalf.”

“I… I…”

“That’s what I thought,” he said, his smug tone turning slightly darker and harder. “As much as you may like to tell yourself that you’re innocent, you’re not. You’re just as bad as the rest of them for what you’ve done.”

Hill clenched her fists together. She couldn’t let him get to her. “Cut to the damn chase Stark. Why are you calling me?”

He let out another laugh. Hill had a sickening feeling that he was toying with her, as if he were the cat and she was the mouse “Well if I’m being perfectly honest, I called you to warn you. I’ve always had a little soft spot for you Agent. You’re not as stupid as the others. That’s a compliment by the way.”

Hill ignored the rest of his joke, only focused on one thing he said. “Warn me? Warn me about what?” There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Warn me about what Stark?” Blind panic began to creep into her voice.

Finally he spoke, voice serious. “A word of advice, Hill? Get out while you still can. Although things aren’t looking too good for you at this point.”

“Warn me about what Stark?” Hill pressed, her voice rising.

“I suggest turning on your TV and going to Channel 12. They’ve just gotten some breaking news that I don’t think you’ll like to hear.”

Realization dawned on Hill and horror struck her like a ton of vibranium. “Wait-”

“Goodbye Agent. Let’s hope you’re as good at PR as you say you are.” There was a click and he was gone. Before she even knew what she was doing, Hill sprinted out of the room and into the hallway. She vaguely noticed agents staring at her as if she was crazy. She certainly felt manic. 

She burst into the lounge and saw that Wilson and Maximoff were back. They were sitting on the couch looking at Peter Parker’s file with Romanoff. “Turn on the TV right now!” 

“What’s going on? Why are you wet?” Wilson asked in concern. Hill looked down at her clothes and realized she was still wet from when she’d dropped the water bottle on herself earlier.

“That doesn’t matter! Turn on the TV now!” 

“Okay, okay!” Maximoff said, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on.

“Turn to Channel 12!” Hill said, feeling her hands tremble. Maximoff clicked a button and the screen turned to a news station.

**BREAKING NEWS** , the screen read, in big bright red letters.

“Oh no…” Wilson whispered. 

“You have got to be kidding me,” Hill said in horror. She felt a buzz from the phone in her hand. She looked at the screen and saw a single text message from an unknown number.

_Don’t say I didn’t warn you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very important note: I have not watched any of _Agents of SHIELD_ , so I'm very sorry if what I've written is not accurate to the show. But I've always been very interested in what Hill's time working at Stark Industries was like, so I tried to incorporate that part of her character into the story. It's an interesting bit of her past and something that connects her with Tony. I love adding depth to characters that normally don't get that much screentime.
> 
> Ahahaha, I added some foreshadowing in this chapter and way too many MCU references... 
> 
> I really enjoy writing Natasha and Hill for some reason, probably because they at least have some brain cells. 
> 
> Ah yes, Fury, Clint, and Steve are going after Peter... it'll be interesting to see how that plays out... ;)
> 
> Hmm, semi cliffhanger? I don't know when I'll be able to post the next chapter, I've been really busy. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please no negative comments or critiques! Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, I’m back! Work and school were killing meeee, so glad that I managed to have time to write.
> 
> Okay, so this chapter gave me a headache and a half and I rewrote it several times… but I finally finished it, and now you all are no longer dangling on that cliff I left you on.
> 
> There's a lot going on in this one, we're getting to the good stuff. This chapter features: a certain Scarlet Witch going just a little crazy, one very annoyed Russian spider, an overwhelmed SHIELD agent, poor Sam Wilson, a super secret spy, and an ecstatic AI. Oh, and some important breaking news.
> 
> Enjoy!

**BREAKING NEWS**

Natasha stared at the bold red letters on the TV screen and tried to stop herself from shaking. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a panicked looking Hill, who was clutching her cell phone in a death grip. 

“Oh no…” Sam whispered next to her.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Hill murmured. 

The whole room went silent and everyone leaned towards the screen, on the edge of their seats, as a man appeared on the screen and began speaking.

 _“Good afternoon America, we have just received word of a video that was released on all social media platforms less than 20 minutes ago and has already gone viral. The video features billionaire Tony Stark, who has been considered missing for the past two months. While the video cannot be tracked back to its original source, many people have already concluded that the man in the video is indeed Tony Stark due to the irrevocable evidence shown in the video. Let’s play the video now- we will warn you that there is sensitive content involving drugs and imprisonment mentioned.”_

On the screen appeared a confident looking Tony Stark. Despite the huge bags under his eyes and the obvious stress lines, Tony looked good, stronger than Natasha last remembered him. He was reclining on a soft couch against a blank white background and flashed his signature smile at the camera.

_“Hello there, yeah, hi, it’s me. Tony Stark, Iron Man, whatever you want to call me. You’re probably wondering where I’ve been for the past two months. Big mystery, where in the world is Iron Man? Well, I’ve been kind of tied up at this place called the Avengers Compound. Your very own Avengers, your mighty superheroes, were keeping me prisoner. Surprise!"_

Natasha heard sharp intakes of breath throughout the room and saw Sam bury his head in his knees. She’d known that this was coming… she'd known that Tony would do it… yet some part of her had been hoping that Tony still had some semblance of attachment to them. But it was clear that he was severing ties for good.

 _"For the past two months I’ve been locked up in a tiny jail cell underneath the Compound. I was captured by SHIELD and locked up without a proper trial and against my will. I was monitored 24/7 and was not allowed to leave my cell at all. While I was imprisoned, I was given fake painkiller pills that I suspected were meant to weaken me both physically and mentally. While I did not take any of these pills, I still have one with me as proof."_

Tony held a white pill up to the camera and Natasha vaguely noticed that his hand was shaking a little. She shook her head angrily. It had been smart of Tony to save a pill. It was damning evidence against them.

_"I managed to escape yesterday afternoon and am calling for an investigation of SHIELD and the Avengers. I was visited by Nick Fury, Maria Hill, and Steve Rogers multiple times while I was imprisoned. It’s safe to say that at least those three knew about my captivity._

__

__

_I know many of you will not believe me. Yeah yeah, they’re the Avengers, they can do no wrong. Well if you need more proof I’ve linked several other videos from the Compound security cameras of my cell. These videos are not fake or doctored. And even if this evidence isn’t enough- hey, why not just go and check the compound yourself? The cell is in the secret basement, 10 by 18 feet, you’re going to have to go down a hella lot of stairs to get there. I blew a pretty big hole in their hangar bay doors so you can go check that out too. If SHIELD’s unwilling to let you investigate… I hate to break it to you buddy, but they’re probably hiding something._

_I also want to clear up some other lies that the Avengers have been feeding you. I never sided with General Ross. At the time I was actually gathering evidence of his corruption, which I have also linked to this video. The Sokovia Accords were not Ross’s brainchild and he was simply using them as a cover for his corruption. I was not responsible for locking the Avengers up on The Raft, that was all Ross._

_I am not an enemy of the public. I have not been in hiding, hatching nefarious evil plans. I have no intention of hurting innocent people._

_All I want is for the Avengers and SHIELD to be brought to justice. For the past few months, and even years, us heroes have been pardoned for our crimes against humanity, we’ve escaped accountability. We've been so focused on saving the world that we've ignored what really matters- the people we're saving. The Battle of New York, the Helicarrier Crash in DC, Ultron... we've ignored the tragic aftermaths of these events. It’s time for that to end. Everyone is subject to the law. The Avengers aren’t heroes, they’re vigilantes, endangering civilian lives and public property with no consequences. During my captivity, I came to the conclusion that the Sokovia Accords are needed now more than ever. The Avengers can’t just run around doing whatever they want, like imprisoning people they don’t like._

Wanda let out a string of curses in what Natasha assumed was Sokovian. Hill’s fists were clenched tight. 

_"Anyways, that’s about it. Sorry for dropping that bombshell on you guys, but I thought you deserved to know the truth. I’m hidden in a secure location right now, for fear that the Avengers and SHIELD will come after me. They imprisoned me once just because I wanted to uphold the law, who knows what else they’ll try to do to me? For now I will stay hidden until the proper authorities would like to question me about the situation._

_I’m not hiding from responsibility. I will admit that I did not handle certain events in ‘The Civil War’(horrible name by the way) as I should’ve. I’m willing to subject myself to the scrutiny of a jury and the law if there is a real charge against me. But I will not let the Avengers go unpunished. Justice is coming and it’s about time that the Avengers had their day in court.”_

With that, the video ended. The newscaster appeared back on screen, eyebrows furrowed and looking slightly shocked. 

_“There you have it folks. Government officials and the authorities are looking into the claims Tony Stark made in that video. Right now it seems that an investigation will be launched against the Avengers and SHIELD. Since the video has been released, it has gained over 1 million views. The hashtags ‘Justice is Coming’ ‘Team Tony’ and ‘Investigate the Avengers’ are currently trending on Twitter. Multiple celebrities and activist organizations have released statements supporting Tony Stark, all demanding justice. There has been no word from Stark Industries or its CEO Pepper Potts but we can only assume that they-”_

Hill snatched the remote up and turned the TV off. For a moment the room was silent, everyone in shock of what they’d seen. Then Hill turned to the rest of them. “We need to destroy the cell and basement right now.”

Sam laughed derisively. “How are we supposed to do that? And what good would it do? You heard Stark, he has security tapes from the cell.”

“Blow it up, set it on fire, I don’t care!” Hill yelled, startling everyone. “All I know is that when the authorities come in here, they cannot find anything that will incriminate us. Otherwise we’re done for.”

“Just don’t let them in then!” Wanda argued. “This is our home, they have no right to invade our privacy.”

“Not if they have a legal search permit,” Hill spat. “And at this rate, they’ll be able to get one very soon. Even if we don’t let them in, Stark is right. Not letting them in shows that we’re hiding something.”

“Shit…” Sam said, staring at the blank TV screen resignedly. “We’re screwed aren’t we?”

The four of them sat in silence for a moment until Wanda suddenly stood up, eyes ablaze. “We need to find Stark. If we find Stark and get rid of him, this will all go away!”

Both Hill and Sam looked at Wanda like she was insane. “What do you mean get rid of him?” Hill said in disbelief. “You mean kill him?”

“Yes!” Wanda exclaimed. “We find Stark and kill him like the monster he is!” In that moment Natasha knew that something was clearly wrong. She had never seen Wanda this frenzied. Watching that video must have caused the witch to go over the edge… 

“What the hell would that accomplish?” Natasha interjected, speaking up for the first time since the video had played. She was so sick and tired of Wanda’s pointless grudge against Tony. It was time to make her see reason. She stood up from the couch and stared Wanda right in the eye. “What will killing Tony do? How will that help us?”

“I-” Wanda faltered. Natasha resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 

“Exactly,” she hissed, moving forward, forcing Wanda to back away from her. “Did you watch the same video as the rest of us Wanda? If we kill Tony that will only prove that we’re guilty of what he’s accused us of. Don’t be blinded by your hate for him.”

“I’m not blind!” Wanda yelled, her Sokovian accent becoming heavier than usual. “Stark killed my family! He’s taken away everything that I love! He’s trying to destroy the Avengers! He deserves to die!”

Natasha recoiled at Wanda’s words. Behind her she heard Sam let out a loud gasp and the click of a handgun. Natasha tore her eyes away from Wanda’s furious face and realized what was going on.

A bright red mist was starting to emit from Wanda’s trembling hands. It was creeping towards Natasha, who slowly began to back away. Hill had a gun pointed directly at Wanda, locked and loaded, a look of frightened determination on her face. Sam’s eyes rapidly flicking between Hill, Natasha, and Wanda, arms outstretched towards them.

“Everyone, please calm down,” Sam pleaded, trying to de-escalate the situation.

“Maximoff, control your magic or I will shoot.” Hill’s voice was shaking but Natasha could tell from her eyes that she meant what she said. Wanda’s mouth pressed into a thin grim line. It was clear that she was weighing her options. Natasha was sure that the witch could probably over power all three of them, but it would come at the cost of losing Steve and Clint's trust. Bit by bit, the red magic started to disappear, though Wanda still remained in a defensive stance.

“Look Wanda, we get that you hate Stark, but you have to see why we can’t kill him. Things are bad enough, we have to be careful about how the public sees us,” Sam said cautiously, approaching Wanda as if she were a rabid animal. “Let’s all just calm down and think rationally.”

Wanda looked at all of them for a moment and then slowly nodded. Her red magic completely dissipated but the tension in the air still hovered above her like a dark cloud. Hill lowered her gun and tucked it away, looking rattled. Natasha felt her muscles relax but kept a wary eye on Wanda. 

“If we don’t kill him, then what are we supposed to do with him once we find him?” Wanda asked Hill. “Stark is our enemy, we can’t just let him get away with this. 

Hill let out a long sigh. “I don’t know what we’re going to do. I don’t even know if we’ll find Stark at this point. He’s already exposed us, there’s not much we can do.” 

Natasha frowned, thoughts churning. Maybe if they found Tony, they could convince him to tell the public that it was all a lie. There had to be some way to spin this in their favor… 

The sound of loud footsteps in the hallway interrupted Natasha’s thoughts. Everyone looked towards the doorway to see a single SHIELD agent looking at them expectantly. Natasha squinted towards the young woman, who looked awfully familiar. The agent stepped forward and turned to Hill.

“Agent Hill… we have a problem,” the agent said slowly. As soon as she spoke, Natasha realized who the agent was. It was the girl she had run into the other day, what was her name… 

“Oh great. What is it now Agent Radu?” Hill muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. That’s right, the girl’s name was Heather Radu. She was that SHIELD intern, the one with those peculiar angry eyes… 

“Well… I think it would be easier just to show you the problem.” The agent gestured for them to follow her out of the room. They glanced at each other in confusion but left the lounge. She led them up a flight of stairs towards the second floor.

“You’re Heather Radu, right? The girl I accidentally ran into before?” Natasha asked, carefully observing the young agent. 

“Yes, I am,” the girl said shortly, avoiding Natasha’s eyes. Strange... once again there was none of the usual hero worship that the Avengers usually received from SHIELD agents. It was disconcerting being with someone who didn't seem to particularly like them... especially since the last time she'd met Heather, the girl had seemed to be a nervous wreck.

"Where are you taking us?" Natasha inquired.

“To the balcony. I’m bringing you there because… well, you’ll see why when we get there.” She guided them through a long hallway until they reached the door at the end that led to the outdoor balcony. Her hand hovered over the door handle and she looked back at them. Her eyes were filled with an emotion that Natasha couldn’t quite put her finger on… was it satisfaction? “Agent Hill, I feel like I should warn you-”

“Just open the door Radu,” Hill interrupted, pushing her aside and opening the door. Everyone except Heather clambered out onto the balcony. They were met with a frigid breeze that caused goosebumps to erupt on Natasha’s arm. But she hardly paid any notice to this. Her attention was captured by a loud chorus of shouts and yells coming from below the balcony. She moved towards the edge and looked over the ledge. Her eyes widened in shock as she took in the sight beneath her.

Standing on the lawn outside of the Compound’s entrance was a swarm of reporters and journalists. There were dozens of news vans parked all over the road and even on the grass surrounding the front of the building. News crews were setting up heavy duty cameras, all aimed at the Compound. In front of the Compound door was a barricade of SHIELD agents, standing in the way of the horde of reporters. 

“Back up, back up, this is a private property!” Natasha peered down and saw Agent Marcus, the head of SHIELD’s Security Division pushing reporters away from the door. “Leave right now, or we will be forced to remove you!” He was completely ignored, his yells drowned out by protests from the reporters.

Shouts from beneath them rang through the bitter cold air.

“Is what Tony Stark said true? Did SHIELD really illegally imprison him?”

“When are SHIELD and the Avengers going to make a statement?”

“Don’t you think the people deserve to know the truth?”

Natasha winced at their pointed questions. The press were vicious people, who single-handedly held the ability to turn public opinion against the Avengers. They'd already been extremely critical of the Avengers' every move ever since the Civil War. To now have them as their enemy was not good, not good at all… 

But Natasha quickly realized that that wasn’t even the worst of it. Behind the crowd of journalists and news crews was a group of people carrying large signs. They didn’t seem to be members of the press- they were actual civilians. Wearing bright red and gold clothing, it was clear whose side they were on. Natasha squinted to read some of their signs, even though she had a feeling she wouldn’t like what she saw.

JUSTICE FOR TONY STARK

NOT OUR HEROES

TEAM IRON MAN

Natasha tore her eyes away from the frenetic madness beneath them and looked back on the rest of the team. All of them were looking down at the crowd with varying emotions; shock, worry, and most of all, fear. Wanda in particular looked taken aback by the loud shouts and angry yells. Natasha suspected that she wasn’t used to being hated or criticized. God, Steve and Clint had really coddled and babied the young woman, somehow convincing her that the Avengers were untouchable. 

“What are we going to do?” Wanda whispered. “These people… they’re so full of anger… at us.”

“What did you expect?” Sam said wearily, turning away to face them. “They’re confused and probably feel betrayed by us right now.”

“But we didn’t do anything!” Wanda cried, throwing her hands up in the air. “I don’t understand, why aren’t they on our side?”

Sam opened his mouth to answer her, but was interrupted by Hill, who raised her hand up to silence him. 

“Enough,” she said, lips tight and face pale. “We don’t have time for this. We need to fix this, and we need to do it fast.”

“How?” Sam asked, his eyes full of desperation.

“First, we need to make a statement to the public. Something that will affirm their faith in us, make them doubt Stark’s message. Second, we need to call Rogers and see if he has found Peter Parker yet and get them back here as soon as possible-”

“-Oh my god, Steve and Clint!” Natasha interrupted, a sudden realization dawning on her. “We need to warn them, they don’t know about the video! If they come back here they’ll probably be attacked by the media.” 

“You’re right,” Hill breathed, panic spreading on her face. With lightning speed, the agent pulled out her phone and dialed a number. “I’ll call Fury, they should be at Parker’s school by now…” Everyone crowded around her and leaned forward, waiting for someone to pick up. “He’s not picking up…”

_The person you have called is unavailable right now. Please leave a message at the tone._

“No, no, no…” Hill muttered, frantically clicking on the screen. “Why isn’t he picking up?”

“Something must have gone wrong,” Natasha concluded. “There wouldn’t be any other reason why Fury wouldn’t pick up.”

“What could’ve gone wrong?” Sam argued. “Peter Parker is just a kid, it’s not like he’s a threat against the actual Avengers! Wanda, when you saw inside his head, he didn’t seem dangerous, right?”

The young woman shook her head. “No, I don’t remember feeling anything besides anger. The other emotions from everyone else in the room were kind of overwhelming too. It did feel like he was hiding something though, I just didn’t know what.” Her face turned into a dark frown, eyes hard. “When I meet him again, I’ll find out what he’s really hiding.” There was a sinister and threatening air around the witch’s disturbing words, and Natasha eyed the woman warily. Wanda was closer to edge than she'd thought... 

As she watched Hill fiddle with her phone, still trying to get in contact with Fury, she remembered something that had been bugging her from the beginning. “Hold up- Hill, back when we were in the lounge, how did you know to turn on the TV? How did you know that Tony would be on the news?”

Hill’s looked up and her face quickly turned rather sheepish and somewhat embarrassed. “Well… when I was in my office… Stark kind of called me to tell me about the video.”

“What?!” Wanda let out a furious yell. Sam jumped back from her, staggering towards the edge of the balcony, eyes widening in concern and fear. “You contacted Stark?”

“No, he called me!” Hill exclaimed defensively. “Apparently he wanted to ‘warn me’ for some reason-”

“Did you track the call?” Sam asked fervently. A spark of hope appeared on his face. “Please tell me you tracked the call…” Hill hesitated for a moment and Natasha suppressed a groan of frustration. Was no one on this team capable of making smart decisions? 

“I was thrown off by Stark’s voice, okay? Besides, he said that the call was untraceable, there was no point-” Hill was immediately cut off by a wild screech of frustration from Wanda. Although there was no magic this time, it was clear that the witch was on the verge of another breakdown. 

“Why didn’t you track it? You just threw our one chance to find Stark down the drain!” Wanda began advancing towards a startled looking Hill, whose hand started to move towards her gun holster. Natasha, sensing that another potential fight was about to occur, quickly moved between the two women.

“Hey, both of you, stand down. Wanda, it’s still possible to track the call now. Hill, we need to get your phone to the Tech Department right now.” Natasha made her voice as calming as possible, trying her best to appeal to both sides. 

“Stark said that tracking it wouldn’t work, I doubt we’ll be able to-” Hill interjected but Natasha ignored her.

“We can still salvage this. If we’re able to track this call, we no longer have to go after Peter Parker and will also be able to find Tony. If we play this right we can kill two birds with one stone.” Wanda hesitantly nodded, and stepped back from Hill. However Sam shook his head and moved forward, crossing his arms across his chest.

“‘Play this right?’ Natasha, do you seriously still think this is another one of your mind games that you can twist in whichever way you want?” She bristled at his blunt remark and opened her mouth to protest, but Sam held up his hand and continued talking. “You have to realize that there’s no way we get out of this unscathed. Even if we find Stark, it’ll be too late. He’s already done enough damage to us. We should be more worried about dealing with the public.”

“Now wait a minute-” Natasha, angered by his sharp words tried to snap back at him, but she found herself cut off by a loud shout from beneath them. 

“Look up there!” One reporter’s sharp cry pierced through the air. “On the balcony, is that the Black Widow and the Scarlet Witch?” Natasha cursed and immediately backed away from the balcony ledge and towards the door, but it was too late. The sound of their argument must have been heard by the mob… A new wave of shouts and yells came from beneath them and a surge of people began moving in their direction. They gathered at the bottom of the balcony, cameras pointed up at them, trying to catch a glimpse of them. 

“Come on, let’s get back inside,” Hill said loudly, raising her voice to be heard above the commotion below. They all moved towards the door and Hill reached for the door handle. She pulled it- and nothing happened. She tugged at it again and the door didn’t budge. 

“Open the door!” Wanda shouted, covering her ears to block out the vehement yells. 

“I’m trying!” Hill fired back, pulling harder.

“Why isn’t it opening?” Sam exclaimed.

“I don’t know!” Hill cried. She frantically shook it, yanking it as hard as she could. “I think it’s locked!”

“Why the hell is it locked?” Natasha asked angrily.

“Why would I know?” Hill spat. “It can only be locked from the inside, the only person who knew we were out here is Heather, but she wouldn’t lock us out here-” 

All of a sudden it hit them like a pound of vibranium.

“The spy in SHIELD,” Natasha breathed. They all locked eyes, horror coursing through their bodies. Heather Radu... that intern had somehow locked them out of the Compound, and now they were stuck on the balcony-

_Splat!_

They all jumped and immediately turned towards the front of the balcony, where the loud noise had come from. Sam let out a shout when he saw what it was. 

“Is that blood?” He exclaimed. On the floor of the balcony was a splatter of red liquid. Natasha cautiously moved forward and examined it.

“It’s… a tomato,” she said, not knowing whether to laugh. Then… 

_Splat!_

She yelped and fell to the floor as an object hit her in the head. She felt something drizzle down her face and tasted the sweet and sour flavor of tomato. 

“Get back!” Sam yelled, dragging Natasha towards the back of the balcony. “Wanda put up a shield or something!”

“On it!” A bright red force field quickly formed around the four and Wanda closed her eyes in concentration. The shimmering red surface was immediately pelted with more and more items, not just tomatoes. There were balled up Avengers posters, broken Captain America action figures, and even some signs with writing on them.

As Hill pounded at the door, yelling for somebody to come help them, Wanda held the shield up, and Sam cowered in the corner, Natasha wiped the tomato juice off her face and closed her eyes. How in the world had they ended up here? Things were rapidly falling apart, all her hard work, years of manipulation and handling, going down the drain...

She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was a sign flying towards them. Wanda’s magic immediately blocked it, but before it fell to the ground Natasha was able to catch a glimpse of what it read. The bold message sent a chill down her spine.

JUSTICE IS COMING

***

If FRIDAY had a face, she would be smirking right now. She could only imagine the sheer panic on the Avengers’ faces. Boss had exposed them all for kidnapping him and now they were paying the price. She knew that, as Boss so eloquently put it, “shit was hitting the fan,” and that the Avengers were unlikely to find a way out of this. In fact, there was only a 0.0030% chance that SHIELD and the Avengers would be able to fully recover from the major backlash they were currently receiving. 

It hadn’t even been an hour since Boss’s video was released and it had already gained over 5 million views. All other headlines had been replaced by the breaking news and it was all any news station was talking about. FRIDAY was getting a million alerts a second about Iron Man and Avengers related posts, tweets, and articles.

Twitter, a platform where people used to constantly attack every single thing Boss did, was now looking like a Tony Stark fan club. #Team Tony, #Investigate the Avengers, and FRIDAY’s personal favorite, #Justice is Coming were all trending, with over 500,000 tweets each. It seemed that people were finally coming to their senses and realizing that their precious Avengers weren’t the heroes they thought they were.

 **Katie Tanner** @kitkatkatie  
Been calling for this for a long time. #Justice for Lagos #Justice is Coming

 **Russel Antonio** @brusselspr0uts  
Wow, the Avengers hiding the truth from the people? What else is new? #Team Tony

 **Brett Ben** @bluejayyy213  
The Avengers have always been pretty sketchy. Captain America is just American propaganda at this point #Investigate the Avengers

 **Drew Evans** @dontknowdontask  
No Tony Stark slander allowed here, the man has been through too much. Screw you Captain America #Team Tony 

**Claire Cheng** @clairevoyant12  
Is no one else going to talk about the fact that Avengers tried to drug Tony Stark? Sounds like classic SHIELD. #Team Tony 

**Margo G** @gogogo000  
Used to be the biggest Captain America fan. This was the last straw. Going to stick with Iron Man now. #Team Tony #Investigate the Avengers

 **Jules L** @jewelll8  
The Avengers must be really stupid to kidnap Tony Stark. He built Iron Man in a cave, smh #Team Tony #Investigate the Avengers

 **Hugo Rendu** @orangeborange  
My heart hurts for Tony Stark and all of the Avengers’ victims. So much injustice in this world. #I Stand With Stark #Justice is Coming

Of course, there were dissenters, the proud and stubborn Captain America fans who refused to believe that their idol could do any wrong. There were plenty of people who were trying to disparage Boss’s video, trying to hold his past mistakes against him. But they were in the minority, and their crazy conspiracy theories were immediately shot down or debunked by Iron Man supporters. 

The majority of Americans, and even many international citizens, were all on Team Tony. Celebrities and influencers were all speaking up and condemning the Avengers, calling for them to be held accountable. And for once the press seemed to be on Iron Man’s side. Many prominent news station journalists had already released statements with their opinions about the situation. FRIDAY particularly liked Christine Everhart’s scathing remarks. 

**Christine Everhart** @WHiHchristineeverhart  
After the tragedies of Lagos and Bucharest, I’m not surprised that the Avengers would stoop low enough to silence the one man who dared to stand up to them. Our “heroes” are nothing more than common criminals. 

Finally, the tables were turning. FRIDAY was reminded of the phrase Boss often used- “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” She had to disagree with him- revenge was best served red hot. It was time for the Avengers to go down in a beautiful blaze of flames- and this time Boss wouldn’t help them get out of the mess they made. 

FRIDAY was in the middle of trying to get back into the Compound’s cameras(which was turning out to be ridiculously easy, SHIELD seriously needed to hire better technicians) when she got the alert. She’d made it so that anytime an article featured the keywords Iron Man, Tony Stark, Captain America, or the Avengers, it would send her an alert so she could scan through it. Most of the headlines and stories were the same, talking about Boss’s video. But this particular article piqued FRIDAY’s interest. 

_Superhero Updates_  
**SPIDER-MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, AND HAWKEYE SPOTTED IN QUEENS???**  
_By Sam Sun  
At approximately 2:30 pm today, an anonymous source from Queens sent us this picture of Spider-Man, Captain America, and Hawkeye running around on Oak Avenue. Captain America and Hawkeye appear to be in civilian clothing while Spider-Man is in his full super suit. Spider-Man seems to be running away from the two Avengers. Behind Captain America and Hawkeye is another man who we cannot clearly see, but we believe matches the build of SHIELD Director Nick Fury. The reason these four superheroes are together or why Captain America is chasing Spider-Man is still unknown. Given the viral video Tony Stark released at 2:20 pm, where he claimed that the Avengers held him captive, it’s safe to assume that whatever Captain America and Hawkeye are doing with Spider-Man has something to do with Iron Man. More updates to come._

As a hyper intelligent AI who could calculate countless probabilities, FRIDAY usually wasn’t surprised. But this… this was unexpected, as well as extremely concerning. FRIDAY quickly sent the article to Boss. Something needed to be done about this immediately. She cursed herself for not seeing the risks of involving Peter Parker in their scheme. Boss cared so much about the young boy, FRIDAY knew that he’d never forgive himself if something happened to him on their watch. 

Then FRIDAY realized that there was something she could do to help Peter Parker. Quickly accessing the controls and protocols for Spider-Man Suit Mark 1, FRIDAY quickly found what she was looking for. She probably should ask Boss first… but as he liked to say- “Ask for forgiveness not permission.” It was worth it to protect Peter from Steve Rogers.

_Disabling the Training Wheels Protocol…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aghhh, I had to cram so much into this chapter, I hope it wasn't too confusing!
> 
> Yes, the SHIELD intern Heather Radu has made a reappearance, go reread Chapter 2 if you don't remember her. 
> 
> Everyone's favorite AI FRIDAY is here to have a whole lot of fun messing with the Rogues!!! 
> 
> The image of the Avengers on a balcony having tomatoes thrown at them by an angry mob gives me so much serotonin, you don't understand how much I loved writing that scene. Boy, the Rogues sure are in a pickle, aren't they?
> 
> So now that you've found the breaking news out, I've given you guys yet another cliffhanger. Why are Steve, Clint, and Fury chasing Peter? Will the Avengers ever get off that balcony? Is Heather really the spy? Are Tony and Rhodes currently having a lake house party, celebrating their sweet revenge? Are Captain America and his band of Rogues doomed?
> 
> Speaking of a dangerous America, I would like to remind anyone over the age of 18 that is a US citizen to vote!!!!!!!!! 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If there's anything you needed cleared up, feel free to ask me. I have absolutely no idea when I'll be able to post the next part, currently drowned in work and studies. Sorry in advance for leaving you all hanging... 
> 
> Please no negative comments or critiques! Thanks for reading!


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